Change Of Address
by PurryCat
Summary: [COMPLETE] Lorelai and Rory have been living in the potting shed for nine years. Now there is finally the opportunity to leave the close quarters behind, partake in town activities, and visit the local diner frequently. EPILOGUE ADDED.
1. Chapter One: A Death In The Family

**AN:** I'm not gonna pretend. These characters aren't mine. What I can pretend is that they did what they do in this story. This is a LL story (is there any other kind?), and I'll be upfront with you: There will be a happy ending. Life is crappy enough as it is, so at least in this story there will be rainbows, unicorns, clowns, and little cute, furry (where was he going with this?)... I'd be nothing without my beta _Junienmomo_ , who again agreed to make this all readable for you fantastic people. I want to dedicate this chapter to the woman who wrote me a drabble when I had the flu, so this is the least I could do (sorry for the rhyme, it was totally intentional): _DSLeo_. This is the only thing that the glass fiber wires actually are able to transport. So sorry for the long AN. Enjoy the story!

* * *

 **Chapter One: A Death In The Family**

A long winter was finally coming to an end. It was the first sunny day that was warm enough to leave the winter coat in the closet. Lorelai didn't know how much longer she could stay in the potting shed. It was a somewhat romantic notion when you think of yourself as a 17 year old mother with a one year old daughter, but now that Rory was getting closer to adolescence, even the softest summer night with stars in the sky and an open potting shed door had lost all its earlier attractiveness. The truth was, Lorelai didn't know how much longer she could tell herself that her living situation was optimal. She had worked long and hard at the Independence Inn and was rewarded with the assistant manager position. But even nine years of saving every penny couldn't buy her a much needed house. All she could afford was a one bedroom, and where was the sense in that? She wanted Rory to have her own room, she wanted to buy her a desk, and probably a bookshelf. Or ten.

That's when the letter came. A letter so out of the blue that Lorelai had Mia and Sookie reread it to her to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Her grandfather had died. Not only that, but he had left her something. She didn't know what it might be _._ She had almost no memory of her grandfather, but what she did remember was a painting of Madame Pompadour that she admired as a child. Ever since the letter came, images of her grandfather kept flashing in her head, images of family dinners, her mother's hands tugging on her tights, just to make sure everything was perfect. Lorelai never claimed to be perfect. With puberty came the decision to at least drive her mother up the wall with her imperfections. But growing up also meant that Lorelai wanted her parents' approval, even when she couldn't explain why, and didn't _want_ to want said approval.

With all that in the back of her head, Lorelai changed her dress for the third time, and she knew she would be late if she didn't make up her mind soon. She changed back into her first choice, a navy dress with white polka dots. Her mother was determined to criticize her no matter what she wore, her grandfather's funeral a few weeks ago was proof of that. She didn't care if the blue wasn't dark enough, or if patterns were allowed yet. Lorelai grabbed a hair clip, fixed a few of her curls in the back of her head, and let them cascade down her back. Just in that moment, Sookie came by to pick her up. Lorelai had decided to take her best friend, because she literally had no idea what to expect. That, and the fact that her car had broken down again earlier that week.

* * *

"Sweetie, are you sure you don't want me to drive you back to the inn?", Sookie asked concerned.

Lorelai had been quiet the entire drive home from Hartford.

"By the school's fine", Lorelai mumbled distractedly, her eyes scanning the people on the sidewalk.

"If you're sure...", Sookie said, but knew she couldn't get through to Lorelai.

Who knew what must be going on in her head right now. As soon as they had been back in Sookie's car, Lorelai had wanted to share the news with Rory. She checked her watch again. School would be going for another hour. The car stopped in front of Doose's market, but Lorelai didn't move.

"We're here", Sookie announced.

Lorelai looked startled, thanked her friend again, and got out. She walked through the aisles of the supermarket, not really sure what to buy. If only she could remember her shopping list... She left the store again, checked her watch again, and sighed again. She wondered if she could splurge a little and go to that diner. She remembered the building. After her parents had given her some money for Rory's education a few years back, the four year old had taken ballet classes at Miss Patty's. When the grand-plié turned into a grand disaster, the little girl had run out across the street and into the hardware shop. It had taken Lorelai only ten minutes to get there after receiving the phone call from Miss Patty, or Madame LaCosta as she called herself when she taught classic ballet. The time it took to get Rory out of the backroom she had locked herself into was about three times as long.

Lorelai hesitated. She looked around, and walked slowly to the newsstand by Patty's dance studio. She gave the vendor a polite smile and a small nod, and grabbed the Stars Hollow Gazette. He accepted her dollar, and watched her walk back to where she came from. With a determined look on her face, she entered the former hardware store, and immediately compared it to what it used to look like. The shelves had disappeared except for the ones on the walls. The counter had more than doubled in length, and of course the smell was different. She was surprised to see it so busy at this time of day, basically in the afternoon lull. She recognized a couple of faces, smiled politely, and for a moment caught the eye of the man behind the counter. In her head she was already going through make-over ideas for the handsome, but by no means well-dressed man, who she guessed couldn't be older than 30.

She watched him refill the largest coffee cups she had ever seen, and couldn't help but wonder what made the proprietor pick the over-sized mugs. He walked back behind the counter as soon as the little bell rang, grabbed the plates and delivered them to a table by the window. As quickly as he had put the plates down in front of the middle-aged blonde woman and her friend, Lorelai noticed that the patron's eyes followed the man as well. With a smile, Lorelai registered how the two women were exchanging looks, their faces contorted with delight. Just a moment later, she watched the man in the denim shirt ring up the next customer, and she had no idea how he did it, but he actually had managed to pick the two ugliest shades of denim she had ever seen, and combined them. Just as a table came free, Lorelai missed her chance, and three high school boys took the seats. She wondered if she would ever get a seat with all the hustle and bustle.

"Luke, honey", Lorelai heard the blonde woman with the very raspy voice say.

The man walked over to her table by the window, and refilled their coffee. She again watched the two women watch Luke as he walked by Lorelai, who stood in the middle of the diner, still unable to digest any of the news she had received not an hour ago, and still unable to get a seat. She was fascinated with the scene in front of her, and she desperately wanted to figure out why two middle-aged women giggled and ogled the man with the backwards baseball cap. Not that he wasn't good-looking, he was just not a Richard Gere kind of type; he was a double-take kind of guy, not really heart-throb level of handsome. Lost in thought, the intoxicating aroma of coffee pushed all the blur away, and Lorelai focused on the getting a seat part of her agenda. As if the gods had heard her, a bearded older man stood up and vacated his stool at the counter. Lorelai quickly walked over there, and lay the newspaper she had tucked under her arm on the counter.

She'd really take that cup of coffee now. She sought eye-contact with the guy with the coffee pot, but he was just ringing up another customer at the cash register. Sighing, she unfolded the newspaper, and scanned a few articles, before her patience ran out, and she waved her hand to get his attention. He delivered a plate at the other side of the counter, and on his way back he told her to wait her turn, rather rudely, she thought. It wasn't helping that both people on either side of her were drinking coffee and Lorelai had the aroma in her nose the entire time. Her tongue desperately wanted what her nose promised.

"Hey, um, excuse me, sir? I'd like a cup of coffee", she said loud enough for him to hear.

"I said in a minute", he told her and brought the high school boys two plates of fries and a reuben sandwich.

Lorelai spun around on her stool, and shook her head at the non-existing kindness at this place. She'd rather do nothing than follow the rude guy in the denim shirt through the entire diner, but she couldn't give up her seat.

"Please, I'm dying to get to taste your coffee, it smells amazing, so please give my tongue what my nose already has!", she said with annoyance.

"I have no idea what that means, please wait your turn, you're being annoying", he said angrily.

"I'm annoyed, mister, not annoying."

He looked at her more closely this time. "You are... something", he mumbled.

If the wait staff at the inn talked to customers like that, Lorelai would have to hire new people. She checked her watch.

"Um, listen, I have to pick up my kid from school at 3, so you either give me coffee, and take my money for it, or this stool will be vacant in ten seconds, OK?", she announced.

"Lady, would you shut up for a minute? Can't you see this place is packed? Wait your turn, and I'll get to you as soon as I can", he told her, and cleared the plates off the table by the bathrooms.

"How long does it take to grab a mug and pour coffee into it? What are your priorities?"

"My priority is to survive with two waitresses out sick today, and everyone in town deciding to take an extra late lunch break. It's only 2.30, so you have half an hour before school's out."

"When's your birthday?", Lorelai asked as she flipped through the Stars Hollow Gazette again.

"On the 35th of May", he deadpanned.

"Very funny", she grimaced.

"What? I'm not telling you that! That's none of your business!"

"Why? Are you afraid I'll bake you a huge cake for being super charming to me?", she scoffed.

Luke shook his head, and disappeared into the kitchen, before he came back out with plates of meatloaf and a burger.

"If you tell me your birthday, I promise I will leave you alone", she whined.

"No way!", he said from behind her.

Lorelai turned around and felt all eyes on her. "Listen, burger boy, I inherited a hundred thousand dollars today, and I'm more than overwhelmed by that. Now is it too much to ask to celebrate it with a cup of coffee? So could you please stop being an ass to me, and tell me your birthday?", Lorelai said loud enough for everyone to hear, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, surprised that she had just let the entire diner know about the money.

He mumbled something, went back behind the counter, stood right across from her, leaned in a little, and whispered, "Only if you promise that under no circumstances will you tell a guy named Kirk about it, and that you'll stay far, far away from me and this diner on my birthday. Are we clear?"

A wicked grin spread over her face, and she nodded, quickly adding, "You think they all heard me?"

He looked at her like she was insane, because everyone in a hundred yard radius could have heard her. Then, he leaned in closer still, and for the first time, she noticed how kind his eyes looked. Piercing blue, but kind nonetheless. "November 5th."

He turned around, after someone from the kitchen had said "Order up!". When he walked by Lorelai, she handed him a piece from her newspaper.

"What's this?", he asked her.

"Read it", she told him.

"You said you were gonna leave me alone", he hissed.

She grabbed him by the wrist and shoved the tiny slip into his palm. "Read!", she repeated a little too loud.

He unfolded the piece of paper and he let his eyes scan her scribble in the margin, read the actual text, flexed the muscles in his jaw multiple times while doing so, and without a word went behind the counter again, grabbed a blue mug and poured coffee into it. Lorelai held his gaze, but had to smile at his behavior.

"Keep it in your wallet, it will bring you luck some day", she said in the manner of a fortune teller at a carnival.

As soon as the rim of the cup was on her bottom lip, the aroma got more intense, and she took a small sip. That was all it took for her to understand why the cups were huge: This was possibly the best coffee she had ever tasted. Lorelai went back to reading the paper and drinking the delicious coffee. Though she didn't have time for a refill, Lorelai knew she could neither keep her promise and leave the coffee guy, whose name may or may not be Luke, alone, nor keep the one she had just scribbled down in the margin of the newspaper, next to the horoscope for Scorpio.

She finished the cup, folded the paper and walked to the cash register.

"How much for the coffee?", Lorelai asked while trying to get another glimpse of those deep blue eyes, but was distracted by the length of his lashes.

"First time customers owe me nothing", he said with indifference.

"I see", she nodded.

"See what?", he asked and looked up.

"This is what makes people come back in spite of the rudeness and the awful service", she told him in defiance.

He held her gaze, and with his mouth in a thin line, he said, "A dollar fifty."

She handed him two dollar bills, again noticed the lashes that framed his eyes, and commented with a wink, "Keep the change, the service was... exceptional."

He couldn't recall the last time he got a thirty percent tip, and felt the redness creep into his face when the annoying woman blew him a kiss on the way out. He watched her walk to the town square, and for the first time this day allowed himself to smile.

* * *

The newspaper again tucked under her arm, Lorelai walked the short distance to the Stars Hollow elementary school, where Rory would meet her in five minutes. After a short while the brown-haired girl came out with her friend Lane by her side.

"Mom", she yelled and ran towards Lorelai.

"Hey hon, how was your math test?", she asked and hugged her daughter.

"Piece of cake. Turns out the homework we got three days ago was exactly like the test, just with different numbers", she shook her head.

"Again? Miss Bell did that last month already!"

"I know, maybe I should complain."

"Or you could just be quiet and be happy about the A you'll get", Lane interjected.

"That'd definitely be my approach, kid. Hey Lane, do you have to go home right away? I was thinking we could go for ice cream", Lorelai suggested.

"I better go home. Mrs. Kim can smell if I had dairy", Lane explained.

"Maybe next time then. Coming, sweets?"

Rory hugged her best friend, and followed her mother to the ice cream parlor.

"It's a bummer we have to walk so far to the ice cream parlor, I think we need one closer to the school and the gazebo", Rory suggested.

"Maybe I'll bring it up at the next town meeting", Lorelai replied.

"You finally gonna go to those? Mia has told us the funniest stories about the town meetings..."

"Actually, yeah, I think I might finally go. I never saw the point since we stay at the inn a lot. But that might change, you know", Lorelai said carefully.

"You haven't told me yet how it went. Did you get the painting of the famous French lady?", Rory asked her mother.

"Um, no. Let's just get ice cream and I'll tell you about it, OK?"

Five minutes later, their sundaes stood in front of them, and mother and daughter dug in.

"So, um, you asked me how it went earlier?"

Rory nodded.

"As I told you, we didn't get the painting. It was a long shot anyway. I don't think I told Grandpa Charles about my fascination. But I, we, got something better."

"His books?", Rory asked excitedly.

"No. You know Gran and your grandfather would have to die before either one of us got the books. Rory, we got a lot of money from Grandpa Charles, and it will be enough to finally buy a house", Lorelai told her daughter.

"Really?"

"Yes, hon", Lorelai smiled.

"We're buying a house?", Rory asked, still a little incredulous.

"Yup", Lorelai simply said.

"A real house?"

"Yeah."

"A brick house?"

"Let's not go crazy, OK? We got money, but we're no millionaires."

"How much money did you inherit?", Rory asked shyly.

"I'm gonna tell you when we're not in a public place, OK? This is no one else's business."

"OK", Rory said happily and went back to eating her hot fudge sundae.

After another ten minutes of assuring Rory that she'd get her own room, shelves for the books, and possibly a half bath, the two went back to the Independence Inn to share the news with Mia. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, a real estate agent was recommended, and that night Lorelai slept like a baby. In spite of her baby kicking her shin.


	2. Chapter Two: The House Hunters

**AN:** I'm back, one week later than I thought. Sorry for that. I want to thank you all so much for the great reviews, faves and follows for this little story of mine. I'm totally overwhelmed. Thanks _Junienmomo_ for betaing, you rock!

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The House Hunters**

Lorelai felt completely overwhelmed. This was the third house she was looking at, and though she got better at paying attention to things big and small, this was still beyond her expertise. She looked around the master bedroom, trying to imagine how spacious it would be with furniture. To her, it was more than luxury to have a bedroom the size of her current home. But could she even afford it? Marc, her realtor, hadn't given her the numbers yet. Lorelai has not decided yet if she liked his tactic. From a realtor's point of view it was probably best to let a client fall in love with a house before shocking them with the price, but Lorelai didn't want to get her hopes up in case this would cost too much.

A light knock on the open door pulled her from her reverie.

"Lorelai, there you are", Marc said and smiled politely. He had left her alone after their tour of the house, so she could look at it with Rory, but soon her daughter wanted to look at the yard.

"I was trying to picture it with a bed and dresser."

"That's good, so I take it you like it?"

"It's a beautiful house. I'm just not sure I can afford it", she said honestly.

"OK. Then let me take a look here", he said as he opened his briefcase to take out a sheet of paper with all the data on it. "This house has two bedrooms, two full baths, 1,600 sqft, sits on 4,000 sqft, and asking price is 148,000$."

Lorelai let everything sink in. That would be a lot more than she actually wanted to pay for the house.

"I don't know if Mia told you this, but I will have to buy new furniture, and I don't wanna pay too much for a house."

"No, Mia only told me that you probably wouldn't need a big loan from the bank, and you were very nice and beautiful, which I can testify to now that I met you", he said charmingly.

"Yes, I inherited some money, but I can't afford to spend it all on the house", she said and made a short pause, "and now that I've seen three houses, I think I need a few days before I can make a decision."

"Oh, certainly. That's no problem at all. We could also make a new appointment and I'll show you a fourth option. Unless you think your future house is among the three you've seen."

The first house Marc had shown Lorelai was on Walnut Street, and had great exteriors. When they entered the house though, Lorelai was a bit disappointed. She was imagining a house where no major repairs would be necessary. A coat of paint, stripping the floors, replacing a lock. More work would mean hiring professionals, and that would mean spending more money. What she had found was a house without kitchen cabinets or appliances, a bathroom where the tub had been ripped out, and a few tiles were missing. There were traces of a water damage in the master bedroom, and Lorelai immediately thought of mold.

In the second house, Lorelai felt better, but she was feeling that everything was too perfect. It had three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and was close to the Stars Hollow elementary school. Not that Lorelai would have minded that, on the contrary. She loved the idea of Rory being able to walk to school instead of having to take the school bus. But close proximity to a school also meant noise. And if Lorelai liked one thing, it was sleeping in on a Thursday, her usual day off. Thursday being a school day could endanger this ritual of hers.

"Mom!", her daughter's voice pulled Lorelai out of her thoughts.

"Up here", she replied.

"You can talk it through with your daughter, and give me a call in a few days", Marc offered.

"Yes, there will definitely be a lot of talking necessary", Lorelai nodded.

Rory came into the room, smiling at her mother and the realtor. She tugged her mother down by her arm.

"How long are we going to stay here?", she whispered into Lorelai's ear.

"Not much longer, sweets. Why?"

"I wanna start on my homework for the weekend."

"OK, we'll just be a few more minutes, you can wait in the car if you want", Lorelai suggested.

Rory did just that, and Lorelai gave Marc an apologetic smile.

"Did she just say she wanted to start on her homework? It's only Friday afternoon", he asked.

"She's a special kid. She likes to have Saturdays free for the star assignments", Lorelai said, beaming.

"Star assignments?", Marc asked with a furrowed brow.

"Her teacher always adds extra homework for the students who are faster than others, and marks those with a little star. Rory loves to do those on Saturdays. Sunday is our day together, so she wants all of her homework to be done by Saturday night."

"Wow, that's really... extraordinary. Maybe you're lucky and she'll keep that attitude throughout puberty. I was a good student in elementary and high school. Middle school however..."

Lorelai chuckled. "Yeah, I can relate. Other things are so much more important in 8th grade. Like cutting off your jeans, getting pink streaks or-"

Marc interrupted her "-pranking the janitor."

"You did that?", she asked with eyes wide open.

"Yeah, he was such a weird older man. Don't remember his name. But boy was he grumpy. You asked him if he could unlock the classroom for you after lunch, and he mumbled incoherently, and made you seem like an idiot."

"What did you do to him?"

"My friend Todd put superglue into the lock right before I called him to unlock the door one day, and his master key got stuck", he smiled wickedly.

"You didn't! That's possibly the meanest thing ever!"

"He deserved it though."

"And there were no consequences for you?", Lorelai wondered.

"Oh there were. Todd and I had to pay for a new lock, a new master key, which we took from our allowance. The next day we had to apologize to the entire school via speakers right after the pledge of allegiance", he told her.

"So you got a lot of laughs for the rest of the day?"

Marc nodded, "And quite a few congrats. Most kids really hated the guy."

"We had the greatest janitor in high school. He knew all of our names, and he was very helpful when it came to, well everything. His name was Mr. Scott, he was bald, but not in an ugly way, it kind of fit his face. And I recall in my sophomore year, we finally talked our English teacher Mrs. Rickowsky into knighting him. Even after I had dropped out, I ran into him one day, and he recognized me and still knew my name."

"Who wouldn't remember the name Lorelai? It's the first time I heard it", Marc commented.

"He remembered the Cindys, Brads, and Claudias as well."

Lorelai heard a honk. "That must be Rory. I gotta go, but I'll call you on Monday, OK?"

"Sure, take your time. I want my clients to find their dream home, not just some house."

"Yeah, a house is not a home", Lorelai replied thoughtfully.

* * *

Rory snuggled close to her mother, a sign the younger Gilmore girl was slowly waking up. The older Gilmore girl was still in the land of dreams, confused if she took the right train, and determined to put on the emergency brake. It was a recurring dream. Just as she walked through a subway tunnel, Rory's grip on her arm intensified, and Lorelai's eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning mom", Rory said with bright eyes.

"Morning baby girl", Lorelai yawned.

"Have you made up your mind?", she asked her mother.

"Yeah, I wanna go back to sleep."

"About the houses, mom."

"Not really. Maybe after a few more hours of sleep..."

"No more sleep, it's 8.30 already, and I'm getting hungry. Let's walk over to the kitchen and see what Sookie has prepared for brunch."

That's another ritual. Sunday mornings always started with the Independence Inn brunch. 30 minutes later, Lorelai and Rory walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Lorelai, hey munchkin. I'm almost done here. Our buffet is over there", Sookie smiled and motioned to the little counter by the staff table.

She did a separate little buffet for the staff, with more eggs and less salmon. Soon all the waiters were done setting the tables, and entered the kitchen in pairs or small groups. Lorelai and Rory dug in and only two hours later even the crispiest slice of bacon couldn't make it into their fuller than full stomachs.

"You think that the lower parts of our gullets widened considerably right before they're stuck into our stomachs and are used as some sort of extra storage space, like the garage in our digestive systems?", Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Here we go...", Rory moaned.

"What? It's a legitimate question. Sometimes I'm not hungry for half a day, and I want to think that my gullet keeps something extra in there for bad times. Like the hamsters do."

"Firstly, hamsters do not keep extra food in their cheeks for months, and secondly, why would your gullet be the storage unit, when all the food you eat later would push the older food into your stomach?"

"Maybe that new food will just replace the older food in the gullet. It'll stay there."

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you to not speak your mind after you're completely full? Not to insult your brain, but it works in weird ways when your stomach's busy with digestion. Now, could we please talk about the houses?", Rory whined.

"You think my brain can take on a new task when it hasn't figured out yet where the extra space in my stomach is coming from?"

"You said earlier that you can't make a big decision with an empty stomach. Now you can't make one with a full stomach?"

"I'll need something in the middle. Who thinks hunger or satiety are great?"

"The woman who ate enough for three?"

"She must be crazy then."

"OK, I'll give you an hour, and then we'll talk, mom."

"Alright. What do you wanna do in the meantime?"

"I'll go to the library, and return last week's books."

"Need a ride?"

"Sure."

* * *

Lorelai sat in the gazebo and watched people walking by. She smiled at the few she knew. She liked how the town looked with a couple spring flowers here and there, the air had this indescribable, clean smell, and since it was a Sunday it was very quiet. Lorelai stretched her legs and allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment. As the sun warmed her face, she couldn't help but think how save she felt. For the first time in over a decade she had a feeling things were really working out. For the longest time Lorelai had felt like a disappointment to her family, and an utter loser in general. A grown woman living in an 13 by 16 potting shed, sharing a bed with her pre-teen daughter every night, save for a couple sleepovers at Lane's, which she usually didn't spend in her bed either. But that was a thing of the past. Lorelai was feeling she was really growing up now. She had to be grown up in so many other ways, but this money from her grandfather marked the start of growing up financially, too. A smile crept on her face as she again thought about how fitting the name Independence Inn really was.

"Lorelai?", she heard a low female voice say.

She turned around to see Miss Patty approach the gazebo.

"Hi Patty", she greeted her daughter's former ballet teacher.

"What brings you here?", Patty asked as she sat down next to Lorelai.

"I'm waiting for Rory. She's in the library, told me she wanted to bring back the books from last week, but 45 minutes in, I'd say she's already picking the new ones."

"There's only one genre that makes me read, and it doesn't come close to how much she's reading", she said with a wink and a more than explicit tone.

Lorelai was silent, partly because she had no idea how to reply, and partly because she wondered how Patty would recover from that.

"So, I hear you're buying a house, dear?"

"That's the plan. Though I'm not sure which one. We saw three so far, but Marc, that's our realtor, suggested looking at more. For me, this is the first time buying a house, and I don't know if there should be an instant spark with the house, or if I'm supposed to be all rational about it", Lorelai explained her dilemma.

"Oh honey, like in love, it has to be a healthy middle between those two. You have to like it, of course. Sometimes a house has bad wallpaper, but as long as it has good bones, that's just a technicality. You said your realtor was Marc? Marc Feldman?"

Lorelai nodded.

"Now he definitely has good bones, and good wallpaper...", Patty commented.

"Patty!", Lorelai gasped.

"What? You can't tell me an attractive girl like you hasn't noticed his... wallpaper?", she said suggestively.

"He's my realtor! I've been focussing on the houses. And he must be ten years older than me."

"You wanna know the difference between twenty-something men and thirty-something men? Experience! Just don't let yourself be blinded by nice wallpaper, only to realize later that the bones weren't so great after all. If I had known that when I was your age, husband number two would never have happened", Patty said as she lost herself in memories.

When Lorelai again was at a loss for words and didn't know how to steer the conversation back to things that weren't awkward, she was saved by Rory who finally decided to come out of the library.

"Hey kid!", Lorelai yelled across the town square.

Rory happily bounced over the lawn, though a heavy bag in her right hand made it considerably harder not to trip.

"They throw you out yet?", Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Very funny", Rory grimaced, adding, "I'm hungry. You think we can have pie?"

"Sure, we can go to Weston's", Lorelai suggested.

"Haven't you heard, honey?", Patty interjected.

"What?", Lorelai asked and she and Rory looked at her with eyes wide open.

"They're closed the entire week because they're painting. The re-opening is on Friday."

"How could I not know this? We get our dinner rolls from them at the inn", Lorelai asked.

"Their bakehouse is still running for all their contracts with other businesses. Paulette told everyone at the last town meeting", Patty informed the Gilmore girls.

"Paulette?", Lorelai asked.

"She's the town selectman. She owns the _Black, White and Read_ bookstore and leads the town meetings."

"Damn, I really need to start going to those", Lorelai remarked.

"Yeah, maybe when you live closer to the town square. Luke's is open though. And I heard about your little, how should I put this, sparks last week?"

"Sparks?", Lorelai asked her in utter confusion.

"Babette and Tilly had lunch at the diner that day and told everyone how you made him smile for the first time that day. Apparently he also gave in to cutting Kirk's sandwiches in stars that day."

"Who is this Kirk guy? Luke mentioned him, too", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Oh honey, you'll meet him, and you'll instantly know", Patty explained, but Lorelai was just shaking her head lightly at Patty's vagueness.

"OK, I think we'll go to Luke's then?", she asked in Rory's direction, who sat next to her mother, deeply immersed in a book.

Mother and daughter stood up, and Lorelai smiled at the ballet teacher. "Thanks for the advice, Miss Patty."

"You're welcome, dear. And don't let yourself be scared away by the wallpaper. There's great bones where you're heading", she said with a wink, knowing the deeper meaning of her words would fly over Rory's head.

Lorelai felt the heat in her cheeks, and went side by side with Rory to the corner of Luke's diner. When they entered, she was surprised to see the exact opposite of how the diner had looked like when she had last been there almost two weeks ago: empty.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Um, hello?"

Luke came out of the kitchen, wiping his flour-covered hands on his apron.

"Well hello", she repeated with a smile.

"Hi. Take a seat anywhere", he said, went back to the kitchen and washed his hands.

A moment later he came out, had lost his apron, grabbed two menus from under the counter and handed them to Lorelai and Rory.

"Mom, can I have a hot chocolate? I know it's not cold anymore, but I kinda feel like having one", Rory asked.

"Sure, hon", Lorelai nodded as she perused the menu.

"And maybe we can order different pies and then split them?", the ten year old asked her mother.

"Sounds good, there are no pies on the menu though", she said and craned her neck for eye contact with the diner owner.

"Excuse me?", Rory said loud enough for Luke to hear and surprised her mother with her openness.

Luke came to their table, pen and paper in hand. He looked at them expectantly.

"What kinds of pies do you have?", Rory asked again.

"Are you that hungry, sweets?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"It's the books, they always make me hungry."

Luke watched and listened to their exchange. He cleared his throat. "I still have rhubarb, apple, blueberry, peach, and boysenberry."

"We'll definitely take one boysenberry, and one apple?", Lorelai asked and looked to her daughter, who nodded in confirmation.

"And a hot chocolate and coffee, please", she added.

Only a short while later they had pies and their beverages in front of them.

"Remember when I told you about our school hiking trip?", Rory asked her mother.

"Yeah", she nodded.

"Miss Bell made a list about whose parents have agreed, whose parents haven't agreed yet, and those who won't come."

"OK", Lorelai replied questioningly.

"Maybe we could make a list about the houses", Rory suggested.

"What do you mean? Like a to-do list?"

"No, I mean when you told me last night that you hadn't made up your mind yet because it was all based on your gut feeling", Rory said and waited for a response.

"Yeah, it's hard to weigh out the pros and cons."

"Then why don't we write them down? The longest pro column wins. That way you can't say it's about your gut."

"Alright. I like that. Do you have paper?", Lorelai asked as she rummaged through her purse for a pen.

Rory shook her head. "Maybe you can ask the man with the apron?"

Lorelai stood up, and walked to the still empty counter. She saw Luke in the small kitchen as he expertly kneaded dough and recognized the technique Sookie used.

"Hello?", Lorelai asked, and added _Is it me you're looking for?_ in her head.

"In a second", she heard him mumble, before he came out a moment later.

"Can I borrow a piece of paper?"

"That depends", he smiled.

"On...?"

"When you plan on returning it", he said and his smile was a full blown smirk now.

 _Wow, the diner man can joke. His smile doesn't look too bad either,_ Lorelai thought.

"Maybe on the 35th of May", she said and his smile widened at the callback of a joke he made when they had first met.

"I expect more for my birthday", he countered.

"I thought I was banned from the diner on your birthday, your actual birthday that is", she retorted, her smile making sure he'd second-guess the seriousness of her statements.

He got more serious and his smile fell. "I, uh, didn't think you'd come back here after... last time."

"Well", she said, "you make a decent cup of coffee. And Weston's is closed till Friday".

 _No need to admit his coffee is the best thing since sliced bread_.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I was stressed that day, and it was unfair to attack you in front of everyone. I actually was hoping I'd see you at the town meeting so I could apologize", he explained, his eyes barely looking up to hers.

"Yeah, I really need to go to those. I hear they're always very entertaining."

"That's one way to look at it", he grunted.

"Everyone has a bad day once in a while."

"Yeah, I just felt really bad afterwards. I'm sorry", he said genuinely.

"Apology accepted. So, um, how about that paper?", she asked.

"Oh, right", Luke said and took his order pad, "One enough?"

"Actually, maybe three. The pad isn't very large."

Luke ripped out three sheets of paper, and handed them to her.

"Thanks, now I know what to give you for your birthday."

"Oh, I don't think three sheets of paper are beatable."

"Just you wait", she said with a smirk.

Lorelai went back to her table, where Rory waited patiently.

"Look", she said and waved the paper in front of Rory's face.

"Cool", Rory smiled and finished the last of her apple pie.

"So, what's the verdict?"

"The boysenberry was very good, and the apple reminded me of those apple tarts that grandma makes for Christmas."

"High compliment", Lorelai nodded, "I liked the boysenberry a lot."

She cleared her throat. "OK, so um, what did you like about the first house?"

"It had a great yard. And it looked nice from outside", Rory recalled as Lorelai was taking notes.

"Yeah, I liked that, too. But the rest looked like a lot of work. It was cheaper than the other two, but that might be a bit tricky. What if it's more expensive after the repairs?"

"Then write that in the con column. And that the second bedroom was very small."

"Alright, noted. What about the second house?"

"It's close to school, so I could sleep longer. And I liked the kitchen. We've never had a kitchen before, besides Sookie's at the inn. So having an own kitchen will be awesome."

"Yeah, but it was so big. Not the kitchen, I mean the house in general. It'd be like living in a museum compared to the potting shed."

"What about the third?"

"Honey, it's way too expensive. We'd have almost nothing to do but move in, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have any money left for furniture if we took that house."

A frown spread on Rory's face. "So what does it mean?"

"I think it means we need to look at a few more houses."

"Yeah?", Rory said and her face lit up.

"Yeah, what are you so happy about?"

"Just that you made a decision. I hated not knowing..."

"Come here, sweets", she said and hugged her daughter. "I think a celebration is in order. More pie?"

"Make it à la mode and I'm in."

"That's my girl!"

Twenty minutes later the second helping of pie was eaten and the boysenberry plate may or may not have been licked clean.

"Hey mom?"

"Hmmm?"

"Lane's coming out of church, can I talk to her?"

"Sure, hon."

And with that Rory ran out of the diner and Lorelai watched with a smile as she hugged her best friend and both girls jumped up and down. Lorelai stood up and walked to the counter, where Luke was sorting through receipts.

"Delicious pie", she remarked. "Didn't know Weston's made such a great boysenberry pie."

"I actually made that myself."

"No kidding? Wow, you're like the perfect housewife with your apron and your secret pie recipe", she mocked him.

"It's not exactly a secret."

"Sure it is. If it weren't, you'd be ruling the world because everyone was addicted to your pie. Like you're the biggest pie kingpin or something", she babbled.

"You're nuts", he said, but couldn't help but smile at her craziness.

"If you say so. All addicts believe what their dealer is saying."

"I'm not a dealer, or a pie kingpin. There is no such thing."

"I think Betty Crocker begs to differ."

"So, um, how's the house hunting going?", he asked her, apologetically adding, "I couldn't help but overhear."

"It's going fine, we're a bit stuck, so we need to look at a few more houses. Why? Got some real estate tips?"

"No. Just don't let anyone know what you yelled here last time. If realtors know how much money you got, they're totally gonna rip you off."

"Oh. I thought you were gonna talk about wallpaper and bones..."

He gave her an unknowing look.

"Never mind", she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Am I allowed to pay today?"

"Sure. You did pay last time, if I recall correctly."

They exchanged smiles, and Lorelai paid their bill.

As she walked to the door, she heard Luke say, "Maybe I'll see you at the next town meeting?"

She nodded, and when she was almost out the door, she stuck her head in the diner again, and told him, "My name's Lorelai by the way. And you shouldn't hide those teeth behind your lips. You have a killer smile, you know."

And with that, Lorelai again had left him with an open mouth, before a smile slowly crept on his face.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, let me know in a review if you will.**


	3. Chapter Three: We Have A Winner

**AN:** I didn't forget about this story, but I was super busy in the last month or so. I'm terribly sorry that you guys had to wait so long for an update, especially when so many of you have liked, faved and reviewed the previous chapters. Way to make a girl feel like a rock star! Feel free to keep spoiling me with your feedback. I created a new character, so I'd love to hear from you how you like Paulette. This version of Stars Hollow is before Taylor Doose's reign, so things are a bit different. As always I'd like to thank my fantastic beta _Junienmomo_ who always supports me and makes this all way less annoying for you to read.

 **Previously on Change of Address:**

 _"So, I hear you're buying a house, dear?", Patty asked._

 _"That's the plan. Though I'm not sure which one", Lorelai replied._

 _"[...] Paulette told everyone at the last town meeting", Patty informed the Gilmore girls._

 _"Paulette?", Lorelai asked._

 _"She's the town selectman. She owns the_ Black, White and Read _bookstore."_

 _"Damn, I really need to start going to those", Lorelai remarked._

* * *

 **Chapter Three: We Have A Winner**

Lorelai had to hurry to make it to her next appointment with Marc, her realtor. Since she had been promoted to assistant manager at the Independence Inn, her old job hadn't been given to anyone new. Finally on this first Tuesday in May Lorelai had to show the new guy around. Only twenty minutes in, she decided to reward herself with a huge cup of coffee from Luke's at the end of her shift because Michel Gérard was giving her the hardest time since she was in labor. After two hours she knew she could kiss her lunch break goodbye, simply because she still had so much to do. Hearing Mia's voice in her ear, Lorelai knew she had to give Michel a chance because they had to have a more diverse staff.

She prayed that her Honda Accord wouldn't give her any more trouble than usual, and she arrived just in time at the address Marc's secretary had given her. Lorelai didn't have to get out of her car to see the house in front of her looked very charming with its wrap-around porch and small front yard. She couldn't have dreamed it better than that. She got out of her car, where Marc greeted her cordially.

"Wow, Marc, have you seen my dreams?"

"I guess that's a good start then?"

"The best!", she said happily as they walked towards the house.

"I have to warn you though. An older couple has been living here for years. They decided to move into an old folk's home. So it's not in the best condition. But they're very eager to sell", he explained as he guided her across the porch to the front door.

"Ooh, hardwood floors!", Lorelai remarked excitedly.

"They need to be stripped I'm afraid. This way, please", he said and walked into the kitchen.

"This doesn't look too bad", she told him.

The kitchen had cabinets that hadn't been painted in approximately 25 years; there was a stove and a small fridge.

"This used to be one big kitchen with a dining area. About ten years ago, they downsized it to make a this a bedroom", Marc explained as he motioned to the room right off the kitchen.

"Oh, OK", Lorelai nodded.

"They tried to avoid the stairs, so for almost a decade they lived only on this floor. It's in decent shape. Upstairs is worse, actually", he told her frankly.

"That'd be fine. I've been sharing the smallest room with my daughter for that long, so this is bigger than I ever could have wished for."

"Downstairs we have one bedroom, the kitchen with adjoining small laundry room, a small bath with shower and the living room. There's a bigger bathroom with a tub upstairs, plus a tiny room that could be a walk-in closet and the master bedroom. There's an attic, too. No basement."

"Can I see all that?"

"Sure, this way."

30 Minutes later, Lorelai sat at Luke's, enjoying a refill on her coffee, and giving herself time to think. She knew she didn't need time at all. The house was perfect for her and Rory, for this chapter in her life. She tried to let her brain come to terms with a decision her gut had made as soon as she had set foot on the lawn an hour earlier. It was a good house at a reasonable price. Marc told her to keep the keys and show the house to Rory after school. She knew that the second floor indeed looked like it needed more work, but as long as Rory had a decent room to sleep in and the downstairs bathroom was working, that was a compromise she could live with.

"Hey, um, Luke, could I get another refill, please?", she asked as the diner owner went back behind the counter.

"Another?", he asked with knitted brows.

"They are still free, aren't they?", she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, that doesn't mean you have to make me a poor man", he mumbled, but poured coffee into her mug.

"That whole grumpy shtick isn't as charming as you might think", she grinned.

"Didn't think it was charming. I thought you had a daughter?"

"So?"

"Don't you wanna live to see her high school graduation?"

"Of course I do. Why?"

"You might want to cut back on the caffeine, or else you're gonna find an early death."

"Someone said 'Live fast, die young'."

"Well, I guess then you're on track", Luke growled.

"Hey, I just said not to be that grumpy. Because last I checked, I'm a paying customer. It's as if I told guests at the inn to reconsider staying with us during check-in."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to criticize you or anything. I haven't seen anyone drink my coffee that fast", he explained and looked her right in the eyes.

She didn't know what to think of this. After their first encounter she thought he'd be nicer to her.

"Apology accepted, but you have to stop doing that. Or do you want me to start calling you Duke until you learn your lesson?", she asked him, eyes blazing.

"How would that make me stop? I don't respond to any name other than Luke. Are we clear?"

Lorelai nodded, and soon after paid and walked over to the Stars Hollow Elementary to pick up Rory. Her daughter chatted away as they walked to their potential new house. Rory talked about her day, her lunch and how everyone was envious of the delicious grilled chicken sandwich Sookie had made for her that day. When they were almost through the door, they heard a raspy woman's voice coming from their left side.

"Back so soon, sugar?", the small woman with the blonde, curly hair asked. "Hi, I'm Babette, and I saw you leave with Marc an hour ago. Ain't he cutest thing the Stars Hollow real estate agency has to offer?"

"Hello, I'm Lorelai, this is my daughter Rory. I came back to show her the house", she told her.

"That's smart. I mean, you have to be sure that both of you like it here, right, sweetie?", Babette said in Rory's direction.

"Yes, mom always says we're a democracy", Rory replied.

"Aren't you a smart thing? Anyway, it'd be great to have someone young in the neighborhood again. Barbara and Bill have lived in the house for longer than I can remember, but it's time for some fresh blood. Not that we're vampires or anythin'..."

Lorelai laughed lightly at the bubbly woman's cadence and way of talking. She recognized her from the first time she had been at Luke's as the woman who stared at him all the time. Maybe she would ask her some day what that was about.

"I need to give Marc the key back by four, so we're in a bit of a hurry here. But it was good to meet you, Babette. Who knows, maybe we'll become neighbors if I can persuade Rory."

"That's so sweet of you, sugar, in my day us kids were just moved to the next place and then had to fight over the best room. OK, I'll let you go. Morey", she yelled without bothering to turn around, "I'm comin' home."

And with that she went back to her house, and mother and daughter finally opened the door. Rory took note of the small hallway, and the old rug that hid the hardwood floors. The girl went to her left and looked around the living room. Lorelai let her take everything in, didn't comment on anything, and didn't tell her where to go. She let her daughter explore on her own, and instead looked at some details she had missed earlier. She'd definitely paint in lighter shades to have more light in the living room, a white ceiling alone would probably make the room a lot friendlier. The banister looked nice, but maybe the strut would look better in white. She especially liked the fireplace. So much of this house needed little repairs, and the upstairs would definitely need more, but she had such a good gut feeling. The same one she had when Mia had taken her in. Lorelai also knew what Miss Patty had meant when she talked about good wallpaper and good bones. She just hoped that Rory would be as in love with this house as she was.

Standing by the side door in the living room, Rory's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hey mom?"

"Yeah sweets?", she said as she turned around to face her daughter.

"You know what I've been thinking?"

"What?"

"If we took this house, we could sit on the porch like at the inn, and here's also a fireplace, just like at the inn."

"You like that?"

"Yes!", Rory said with sparkling eyes.

Rory walked to the kitchen, while Lorelai inspected the downstairs bathroom once again. It wasn't very big, but functioning.

"Mom!", she heard, and immediately walked to the kitchen.

"Are you OK?", Lorelai asked worriedly, but soon saw that everything was fine.

"I'm OK. I just wanted to tell you that I love the house! This room is so cool, and it's right off the kitchen. We're gonna have a _kitchen_!", Rory squealed and bounced up and down.

Lorelai had to laugh at the sight and the sound. She quickly closed the distance to hug her daughter, and soon both were jumping with delight.

"Oh, honey, you know that this would be your room?"

"For real?"

Lorelai nodded, and Rory again squealed. Now the mother was laughing wholeheartedly. This little creature was so easy to satisfy. Other kids wanted the newest toys, and Rory was happy just with an old book from the _Buy a Book Fundraiser_. And now she was dancing around because they'd soon have a kitchen, something others took for granted. As they left the house and stood on the porch, Rory turned to her mother. Just when she wanted to speak, they were interrupted by a guy in his early twenties.

"I'm sorry. I heard you might be interested in buying this house?", he said as he stood awkwardly in front of the porch steps.

"Um, maybe, I don't know yet. Why?", Lorelai asked with a furrowed brow.

"My name is Kirk Gleason, and I came to offer my services", he stated matter-of-factly.

"Your services?", Lorelai said, still not getting why he was there.

"Yes, my career so far includes moving furniture, a cotton candy booth, waiting tables, and I'm a dog trainer trainer", he listed.

"A what?", Lorelai asked incredulously.

"A person that trains people how to train dogs."

"Ah, so, um, Kirk. We don't have much furniture, so we'll be fine. And since we don't have a dog, I'm sorry to tell you we won't be needing your services now. Or possibly ever."

"What about gardening?"

"Gardening? This front yard is like 2500 square feet. I think I can handle that."

"If you change your mind, you can call this number", he said as he gave her his card, "between 6.15 pm and 7.45 pm on every other Wednesday."

"Whoa, that's awfully specific. What if the urge hits at 8 sharp?"

"This is the only time mother leaves the house to play bingo over in Woodbury", Kirk explained.

"Ah, OK, so listen. My daughter here and I have to go now. But I'm sure I'll call you some time. And if I don't, it's only because I might have lost your number during an exorcism ritual, OK? Buh-bye."

And with that Lorelai grabbed Rory by the shoulders and led her to the car. They watched as the guy who was dressed like a middle schooler vanished between the bushes.

"Wow, what was that?", Rory asked her mother, still half in shock.

"I have no idea, kid, but I hope his mom will start hugging him eventually. What were we even talking about before he showed up?"

"Oh, I was gonna say that we could sit out here in the summer, like we do now at the inn. And in the winter, we could light a fire and have hot chocolate."

"Hm, everyone's a winner. What if I don't want to wait till winter to have a hot chocolate?"

"Maybe we can have it tonight after the town meeting?", Rory suggested and got into the car.

"I don't know if Weston's will be open so late."

"We could go to Luke's..."

"Rory, we won't be able to go to Luke's every day. Let's just save it for special occasions. If we both decided to buy this house, we'd still have to buy a lot of furniture. We basically have nothing, and not everything that is currently in the house will stay there. The kitchen cabinets will stay, and probably not much else", Lorelai explained as she started the car and backed out of the driveway.

"Can we keep the piano?", Rory suddenly asked very excitedly.

"Let's just make sure we'll buy beds first. We'll see..."

* * *

Later that day, Lorelai and Mia walked from the inn to the town square, where Lorelai would attend her first town meeting.

"It's so nice of you to join me, Lorelai", Mia said as she hooked her arm through Lorelai's.

"Yeah, you think Rory will be fine though?", she wondered.

"Of course. She stayed with Sookie so many times before."

"I know, but I kinda promised her to go to the town meeting together. That was before you told me how long they could go on for."

"Maybe the next one's on a Friday. It's a bit risky on a school night. She told me earlier that you'll take Bill and Barbara's house."

"Yes, it was the best among all the houses we looked at. She immediately started to compare it to the inn. I think it will always stay her home somehow."

"I'm sure. But a girl her age needs her own room. And her mother might want to share her bed with someone else than her daughter", Mia said and smiled suggestively.

"Mia!"

"Oh stop it with the pretense. We're all human. Christopher isn't the only man in the world, you know."

"I know. Sometimes I feel that by myself I am not enough, but with Rory we're too much for a serious relationship."

"What do you mean?"

"What could I possibly have to offer? My mind is always elsewhere, and men somehow don't like to hear 'I have a daughter'. It terrifies them to no end."

"Then it's their loss. But you can't stay alone forever. The heart wants to be happy. And I don't mean for a daughter's A in a spelling test, but in a romantic way", Mia stated.

They came closer to the town square and walked by Luke's diner. Its proprietor was still inside, scribbling something on his note pad behind the counter. Lorelai eyed him curiously.

Mia followed Lorelai's line of sight. "Ah, so there _is_ someone your eyes agree with already. How does your heart feel about him?"

"I really don't know", Lorelai said, lost in thought.

"I know that look!", Mia smiled knowingly.

"It's not that, Mia, I swear. I just can't figure this guy out. The first time I saw him, he yelled at me, a first time customer. Who does that? Next time I'm there, he apologizes for his behavior. And it came out of left field. I never would have expected it from him. He's a handsome guy, so I had already filed him away in the giant asshole compartment. Then, earlier today he lectures me about caffeine and all but refuses to refill my mug. And what is it with these giant mugs?"

Instead of replying, Mia looked at Lorelai as they walked in Miss Patty's dance studio to find seats. Mia didn't know that Lorelai had started going to the diner, but she was certain that such a reaction from Luke certainly meant _some_ thing.

"What?", Lorelai asked her surrogate mother, still waiting for a response.

"I know Luke since he's been a little boy. I knew his parents. If he is already trying to get you to stop drinking coffee, he likes you. He only tries to evangelize people he likes. He's tried it with me since, well, pretty much since he has opened the diner."

"And that doesn't concern you? A diner owner wanting to sell less coffee? He might as well exchange the _Closed_ sign with a sign that says _Closed Due To Wealth_ ", Lorelai remarked with a slight shake of her head.

"Honey, this is Stars Hollow. You haven't been exposed to all the craziness out at the inn. But you better fasten your seatbelt. A diner owner looking out for people he loves is just the tip of the iceberg."

"I know, we met Kirk today..."

Mia chuckled at that. Soon after, more and more seats were occupied, and Miss Patty went up behind the podium. Lorelai heard the door close behind her, turned around and saw Luke take a seat two rows behind her. She recognized a few faces in the crowd, but also saw many unknown ones.

"Hi everyone, I know I usually moderate these meetings, but our town selectman, or select _woman_ , has something to announce, so without further ado, I'll let her have the stage", Patty said and walked to her right to sit down on a chair next to one of the town elders.

People started mumbling immediately, and Lorelai saw Taylor Doose in the front row vehemently shake his head. Then a maybe 60 year old woman walked on stage. Lorelai recognized her from the _Black, White & Read_ bookstore. She had a friendly face, laugh lines framing her warm brown eyes, and her short, almost white hair in stark contrast to her dark skin. She now was behind the stand and waited a moment for the crowd to quiet down.

"As Miss Patty already told you, I have an announcement to make. I am not going to run for town selectman again. I love this town so much, and this office was a great opportunity for me. But I want to change something in my bookstore so I won't have the time to be town selectman anymore. I plan on turning the bookstore into a movie theater at night. After the last small town theater in our region has closed over in Beacon Falls, I think this could be a way to at least keep a part of that tradition here in Stars Hollow. The only way to do this is part time, so that leaves me much less time for town business. But I'm sure there will be enough candidates to make this an exciting race, and there will be a capable successor. That was it from me for tonight, I'll let Patty take over again. Thank you everyone!"

As soon as Paulette had found her seat again, Patty talked about this week's agenda, and Lorelai carefully watched and listened to the town matters. For the first time in her life she'd have to handle big things like property tax, as well as small things like knowing when the trash would be picked up. She felt the town meetings would be a great occasion to keep her in the loop. When the ballet teacher was done with her agenda, she gave everyone the opportunity to bring up problems or ask questions. An eager Taylor Doose raised his hand.

"I want to bring forward the motion to dismiss the current town selectman and move up the election. Paulette seems very exhausted to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one would feel a lot better if someone holds the office who is up for it, and not distracted in any way", the supermarket owner said in a very accusatory tone of voice.

Besides a few gasps, nobody spoke up to support his motion.

A woman Lorelai's age with dark pigtails now addressed him, while Lorelai could barely stop herself from biting her nails. "Taylor, you lost twice already, ya really think it'd be different this time around? Better prepare your campaign and use this time till November wisely."

"Motion withdrawn", he admitted meekly.

"Wow", Lorelai whispered in Mia's ear.

After a few more motions and a short discussion about the current raccoon plague, the dance studio quickly emptied out.

"Holy cow!", Lorelai said as she drew a deep breath, "Is it always like that?"

Mia smiled. "Yes."

"Really?"

"Well, Taylor always brings forward weird motions, someone always shuts him up, and Paulette is always the nicest person."

"Who needs a movie theater then? I feel very much entertained", Lorelai said with a smile.

"Yes, so do I", Mia nodded.

"Do you wanna go for a cup of coffee?", Lorelai suggested.

"No, thank you. I better get home. I still have a pile of dishes in the sink that scream my name. But you should go, you know, without me", Mia said and motioned over to the diner, to where Luke had already returned.

"You really think?", Lorelai said with a doubtful look on her face.

"Honey, I can't tell you when you're ready, but what I can do is assure you that Luke is one of he good guys. And when you spend more time with him, you'll see it, too."

"I'm just scared that I've been on my own for too long", Lorelai confessed.

"You're still young, dear. I'm not telling you to marry him and have his twins. But you could go on a date. Who knows, maybe something develops from there. And if not, he'd be a good friend", Mia said and gave Lorelai a quick hug, before she disappeared down Plum Street.

Lorelai hesitated for a moment, but then walked to the diner, where Luke was just coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey", she said as she sat down on a stool by the counter.

"Hi. First town meeting?", Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'll probably have nightmares about it for weeks to come", she joked.

"Coffee?", he asked.

"Really? No lecture?", she said surprisedly.

"Not tonight. The first town meeting is a big deal", Luke said as he poured her a mug.

"So this Taylor guy. Mia tells me he's run for town selectman before?", Lorelai asked as she took a sip.

"Yeah, and Paulette's won by a landslide every time. The first time he explained it with a sudden sympathy for feminists."

"Paulette's a feminist?", she wondered.

"No, she's a woman. Taylor's just an ass."

"Ah."

"And what else is he gonna do?", he said as he wiped down the counter with a rag.

"Blame it on the boogie?", Lorelai suggested.

Luke chuckled. "Yeah."

"You have to explain to me some time how you deny people your coffee, when you sell the best on the east coast", she challenged him.

"I'm just making sure people live healthy."

"You own a diner."

"So?"

"That doesn't exactly attract people who want to eat healthy."

"This is Stars Hollow. I consider it a good day when Kirk's only come in three times."

Now it was Lorelai who chuckled. "I met him today. He offered his services."

"What services?"

"You name it. I think the only thing he didn't list was cooking actually. Though he has worked at a cotton candy booth."

"What'd you tell him?"

"I turned him down. He's so creepy. He disappeared between the bushes and that was it."

"Why did he offer his services in the first place?", Luke wanted to know.

"Oh, I guess he must have some kind of radar. Rory and I just came out of the house we'e buying, and he was suddenly there", she told him.

"So you found one?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, it's the one next to this woman that was also here the day I first came to the diner. Babette."

"You're buying that old crap shack?", Luke asked her.

"Hey! This house has great bones", she defended her choice using Patty's phrasing.

"If that's what we're calling it..."

"Be nice. Or you won't be invited to the house-warming party!", she threatened playfully.

That silenced Luke for a moment.

"And speaking of Babette, what on earth did she ogle you for a week ago?"

"What?", he asked with a furrowed brow.

"When I first came to the diner and you were your super charming self? She and that woman she was with stared at you."

"East side Tilly. I don't know. I don't know why those lunatics do half the things they do."

"You are a man of mystery, Luke", Lorelai stated simply.

"Me? Why?"

"Because you call them lunatics, yet own an establishment where they can meet and eat and chat. You're the textbook definition of a mystery."

"I don't know why anyone would look up mystery in a textbook..."

"You clearly haven't talked to my daughter a lot."

Lorelai emptied the last drop of coffee into her mouth, and smiled.

"Speaking of her, I gotta go. Or Sookie will never be able to go home."

"Sookie St. James?", Luke asked her.

"Yeah, she's my best friend, and Rory's babysitter for the night."

Lorelai paid for her coffee, and since they were alone in the diner, Luke walked her to the door.

"Where are you parked?"

"At the inn. I'll walk."

"No way. I'll drive you", he offered.

"You don't have to. It's not that cold anymore."

"No, but there are a lot of sick people out there. I'll take you."

"If you insist..."

Luke quickly brought around his truck, and Lorelai got in. They drove in silence, and soon, too soon, were at the Independence Inn. Lorelai had felt good talking to him at the diner with no one around. Luke killed the engine, and Lorelai smiled at him.

"Thanks so much."

"Don't mention it."

Lorelai leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on his stubbly cheek.

"Night, Luke", she said and hopped out of the truck.

He exhaled when the door shut, and watched her walk down the path to the pond. Just before she would no longer be visible, he saw her turn around and wave her hand. He smiled, started the truck and went back home. When he was finally in his bed, he was still wondering if she had been serious about the house-warming party.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, guys. Reviewers are my favorite readers.**


	4. Chapter Four: Warm My House, Warm My Hea

**AN:** Hi, folks! Let me first say that I'm so very happy to see you all read, review, follow and fave this little story, as well as others of mine. OK, what comes next is a chapter full of stuff that is pretty much non-fanfic-canon. We all have read stories where certain things are repeated from other stories, and not that that would be bad, but I think I wanna be more creative on one side, and keep closer to the things we actually find out on the show on the other. What do I mean by that? Luke's childhood. We learn so little on the show, and in fanfic, his parents are loving, perfect parents. Why? I don't know, we get little to no indication in that direction whatsoever. Maybe it's easier, maybe we all want to believe that, but I fell in love with fanfic because writers come up with brilliant little details, just not in that area. I don't want to offend anyone, this is just my take on Luke's childhood, not that I'll go into too much detail at this point. Let me give a shout-out to my lovely beta _Junienmomo_ who again unscrambled this big bag of weird. Read, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Warm My House, Warm My Heart**

This was just great. Super. The stupid car wouldn't start. Lorelai wanted to drive over to Beacon Falls to get a couple things for her house-warming party. Here she was, turning the key in the ignition for the hundredth time, but all it did was a really angry noise that came from the engine. Lorelai quickly ran back to the inn, where Mia calmed her down a little, and offered to drive her to Beacon Falls, have her car towed in the meantime and check in with the garage on their way back. At the party store Lorelai's mind was elsewhere and she didn't exactly want to spend too much money with the car situation hanging over her head. So after just buying the most important things like paper cups and plates, they drove back to Stars Hollow. Lorelai got antsy on the way back. She hated the uncertainty, and wanted to know what would happen next as soon as possible.

Lorelai all but jumped out of the moving car as soon as Mia pulled up in front of the _Hewes Bros_. garage.

"Lorelai!", Mia yelped, a shocked expression on her face.

Lorelai went straight to the woman in pig tails she recognized from her first town meeting.

"It doesn't look good", Gypsy said as she wiped her oily fingers on her overall.

"What does that mean, exactly?", a more than nervous Lorelai asked.

"The engine is pretty much dead. Or you'd have to invest loads of money. Some people do that, for their favorite cars. Judging by the look of this car", she said and pointed her finger to it, "it can't be your favorite. You're treating it like you don't even like it."

Lorelai released a deep breath. "OK, how much would I get for it?"

"No more than 200 bucks, including the tyres. 220 after a trip to the filling station", Gypsy said dryly.

Lorelai appreciated the woman's honesty. Sugar-coating was apparently a foreign concept to this mechanic.

"Alright. If you give me $250, we have a deal", Lorelai said with a stern look on her face.

Gypsy looked at Lorelai's determined eyes, and stayed quiet for a bit. After another uncomfortable 30 seconds of just staring into each other's eyes, Gypsy wordlessly reached out her hand. It earned her a firm handshake, a thankful smile, and an invitation to the party.

* * *

When Lorelai came downstairs, everything looked almost ready. Sookie was just putting trays of food on the pasting table that was placed in the middle of the living room. Lorelai had found it in her car-less garage with a couple of other things that she considered useful. It was perfect as a makeshift buffet table. With her birthday not having been celebrated this year, Lorelai felt she needed to put on a smashing house-warming party to compensate for it. But since she didn't have the money for the party she would have liked to put on, she had to cut back on some things. Hence the pasting table. This all never would have to be the case if her car hadn't died before the ink on the papers for her new house were dry. The need for a car in rural Connecticut trumped the need for a big shindig. Or a couch. Rory's room was furnished. There could be one more bookshelf, but Rory was frugal. She didn't have too many clothes, so her dresser drawers were filled with books. For now. That's what Lorelai kept telling herself. Rory and her friend Lane were setting up the stereo in the living room, and just for those two the party actually started early. Mrs. Kim had strict rules and Lane would have to be at home by 8.

Lorelai had invited the people that helped her with the move, or in life in general, plus a couple friends and new neighbors, including her new found friend Gypsy. Lorelai was hoping that her neighbor Babette would soon come over to bring the chairs she had promised to lend the girls. As practical as not having a couch yet might seem, and Lorelai considered it very practical to have the space and that no one would get the brand new thing dirty, she didn't want to have everyone standing around all evening. Dancing, yes, standing by the buffet to get more from Sookie's international tapas buffet? Absolutely. All the drinks and non-alcoholic beverages were in the kitchen. Lorelai made a huge bowl of strawberry punch and on the kitchen table there was a vat with ice for beer.

"Hey mom?", Rory asked as Lorelai once again checked the contents of the fridge and did a rough estimate on how much everyone would be drinking.

"Yeah?", Lorelai said, turning around to face her daughter.

"Do I leave my door open? I mean, for the party. It's my room, everyone should be able to take a look. But what if they spill their drink on my bed or something?", Rory explained her dilemma.

"Well, it depends, sweets. We could leave it open first, then close it later. Or if you want, it can stay closed and you give each one who's interested a tour."

"OK, I think I wanna leave it open for now. I'm not much of a tour guide", she said and vanished in her room to once again dust her desk.

"Lorelai", Sookie asked.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna go over to Babette's to get a few chairs, because I'm done for now. The bread's in the oven, the salmon's in the fridge, and I want to make the bacon-wrapped dates when at least a few people are here. They're better warm."

"Sure, let me help you."

When the two women were coming back to the house through the side door, Rory and Lane were admiring the buffet Sookie had prepared.

"You know you can take what you want, girls", Sookie let them know.

"But everything looks so pretty", Rory remarked shyly.

"Aw, thanks, sweetie. But it's food. It's not there to be admired but to be tasted."

"OK, I guess I'll try the potato thingy then", Rory announced and grabbed herself a plate and napkin.

Lane felt like she was in heaven. Her usually very restricted diet would be a non-issue tonight. She could eat whatever she wanted, and therefore she wasn't experiencing any of Rory's restraint. She was very curious and thankful for the variety Sookie had cooked. Lorelai and Sookie went over to Babette's once more to get more chairs, and soon the first guests arrived. Though Mia had offered to come sooner and help Lorelai set everything up, she was forbidden to do so. Lorelai had insisted that for once Mia could enjoy herself and not play her personal assistant like she had done numerous times in the past.

"Lorelai, I'd like to talk to you outside for a moment", Mia said as they both were standing in the kitchen and helping themselves to a glass of punch.

As soon as both women had stepped out on the porch, Lorelai asked a concerned, "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing bad, I promise. It has come to my attention that you still haven't bought a bed for yourself. I'd like to give you one from the inn."

"That's out of the question, Mia. I couldn't accept that", Lorelai shook her head.

"Please do. The new beds for rooms 4,13 and 24 will be delivered this week, and this way I wouldn't have to get rid of at least one bed. All you'd need is a new mattress", Mia explained and put her hand on Lorelai's shoulder.

The soft touch of the older woman calmed Lorelai a little bit, but she was still strongly opposed to the idea. It was one thing to buy clothes from second hand and consignment shops, but actually accepting things for free from her surrogate mother was something Lorelai didn't want to get used to. Mia had done so much for her already.

"Lorelai", Mia's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Did Rory talk to you?", she immediately wanted to know.

"No. Sookie let it slip. Please don't be mad at her. She asked my advice on something else, and we then talked about house-warming gifts for you. She joked about the bed because she thought I had known and felt awful afterwards."

"Listen, Mia. I know the situation isn't ideal, but Rory's set, and I don't mind sleeping on the old mattress for now."

"Honey, you know I wouldn't want to embarrass you, but you're a grown woman, not a 19 year old college drop-out. Don't think of this as charity, but doing _me_ a favor. Just think about it and let me know this week."

Lorelai sighed and let it all sink in. By buying this house she felt she could restore some of that Gilmore pride, so any step back would be all the more devastating. Since moving into the crap shack, she felt a deep independence. Almost like driving a car for the first time. But there were also scary aspects, and she knew she'd have to get a bed eventually.

"OK, I'll let you know. Thanks, Mia", Lorelai said and gave her a quick hug.

Before they went back into the house, they saw Luke walk over the lawn. He greeted both women and hugged Lorelai awkwardly. She sent him inside and told him to get himself a drink in the kitchen and something to eat. She was about to follow him, when Mia held her by the wrist, motioned to Luke with her head and whispered, "Well, it seems like you could be needing a bed soon", Mia smiled.

With reddened cheeks Lorelai went straight to the buffet to stuff a crostino with smoked salmon into her mouth. Her best friend appeared by her side and bumped her hip into Lorelai's.

"Hey, you got a minute?"

"Sure", Lorelai said as she swallowed.

"I want to give you your birthday present", Sookie declared.

"Sookie! I told you you didn't have to get me anything."

"Nonsense. You love birthdays. And you didn't celebrate this year."

"But you already gave me your old pots and pans. My kitchen cabinets would be empty if it weren't for you."

"You done now? Here", the cook said and handed Lorelai a small bag.

Lorelai lifted the pink paper to reveal a t-shirt. She picked it up, unfolded it and immediately started laughing. Most eyes were suddenly on her, so Lorelai turned the tee around to show everyone what was printed on it: _Fry Day I'm in Love_. A soft chuckle went through the room. She thanked and hugged her friend closely and the both of them went to the kitchen to refill their drinks.

Hours later, when the rest of the strawberry punch had been drunk, the Hustle had been danced, and the paltry remains of the buffet had been covered and put into the fridge, Lorelai sent Sookie and Mia home. She was surprised to find Luke still in the living room where he folded the pasting table.

"You got some trash bags?", he asked her.

Lorelai nodded and went into the kitchen. On the way back to the living room, she wanted to close the door to Rory's room so she wouldn't be woken up by the rustling of the bags, but saw light coming through the crack of the door. She quietly entered the room and saw the lamp on the desk was still on. She tiptoed over there, and just as she wanted to flip the switch, she froze. Something had caught her eye. It was lying between Rory's math book and a copy of _The Little Prince:_ A change of address card Rory must have taken from the pile that sat on the tiny desk in the living room Mrs. Kim had sold her at a really good price last week. The card was addressed to Mr. Christopher Hayden in Rory's handwriting. There was no address under her father's name. Why would there be? Lorelai had no idea where he was currently residing. Lorelai tried to remember when Rory had brought up Chris' name for the last time but came up blank. She had tried to call him on Easter Sunday to let him know how many eggs she had found in the town square and how difficult at least three of those seven eggs had been to find. But again he had changed his number, making the address they had most likely outdated as well. Lorelai took a deep breath and looked over to her daughter's sleeping form. She turned off the light, quietly walked out of her room and grabbed a shot glass from the kitchen counter that was soon filled with vodka. Luke entered the kitchen just in time to see her knock back the shot.

"Are you OK?", he asked her with knitted brows.

She turned around and gave him an embarrassed look. "No, but that's OK. Help me with the trash?" She asked and walked straight into the living room where she immediately started to put plastic cups, plates and cutlery into the trash bag. Luke watched her for a moment before he gathered more cups in his hands. He took the bag from her and tied it around the banister of the staircase. After just a few minutes they were done, and Lorelai went and grabbed the last two beers from the vat on her kitchen table. She sat on the stairs where Luke joined her.

"You seem angry", he stated.

Lorelai took a sip of beer and sighed. "Well, I feel pretty much like a bad person at the moment."

"Why? You didn't have to invite Kirk. This house would likely be in ashes if you had invited him", he tried to lighten the mood.

His efforts were rewarded with a shy smile.

"I don't know you all that well, and I don't wanna share things like you're the bartender and I'm the drunk customer..."

"We could go back to the diner. It's all a different vibe with a counter between us", Luke smiled and pushed his elbow in her ribs.

Lorelai chuckled. "I just saw that Rory wants to send her dad a change of address card. She didn't tell me about it. She just took a card from my desk and wrote his name on it. No address, just his name."

"Why?"

"She doesn't know his address. _I_ don't know his address. If I wanted to find out his current address, I'd have to contact my mother, she would contact his mother, probably behind his father's back. Chris only lets us know how to contact him from time to time. That's why I basically decided to no longer pursue him. That must sound awful to a stranger. But I frankly don't know how many times I can bear to see Rory cry over yet another disappointment. And now, seeing how she apparently wants to let him know that we moved, it makes me question everything. I mean, how could I misjudge her reaction and needs this much? I never wanted to deprive her of her dad. If it were up to me, he'd be living in the area and we'd have the traditional every-other-weekend arrangement. But like this? Every time she gets her hopes up she has these shiny, hopeful eyes, and all I want to do is shake her and make her see that she needs a defense mechanism or she'll be heartbroken every time. But I can't tell her about defense mechanisms, she's only 10. What does she know about it?"

Luke was silent, and Lorelai immediately regretted sharing so much of her thoughts and fears with him. A quiet "Sorry" escaped her mouth. He looked at her questioningly, he didn't know why she apologized.

"No, it's OK. I was actually trying to think if I knew what a defense mechanism was at 10. Maybe. I don't know. It depends. Some kids had a happy childhood, so they don't know what it is. Anyway, I really liked the food", Luke said and tried to steer the conversation to a lighter topic as he nursed his beer.

"That's all Sookie. She's a goddess in the kitchen. Even in mine...", she smiled.

"Yeah, I really liked that Vietnamese wrap or whatever that was."

"Yes, the summer rolls. Sookie kinda took a few liberties with the buffet. All I said was 'Make a few wraps, crackers, potato salad and something with bacon' and she thought with the boring office job she has it would be nice to finally go into the kitchen and try out all those recipes that piled up on her table. I was surprised to see you try out so many things. I thought you were a burger and fries kinda guy", Lorelai remarked and took a gulp of her beer.

Luke gave her an unreadable look. "Please, that's what those folks made me cook..."

"What do you mean?", she asked, interested in the story behind a statement like that.

"This is a long story. But it's not how I originally wanted to cook."

"I have tomorrow off and there's another sixpack in the fridge", she offered. She was dying to know more about the man who she had told so much about herself just moments before.

"Where do you want me to start?", he asked her and for the first time let himself shamelessly take a closer look at her face.

"Do you think the Brothers Grimm were ever asked where they should start? At the beginning, of course!", she said matter-of-factly.

Luke drank from his beer, inhaled deeply, and took a brief glance in Lorelai's expectant eyes.

"OK, my parents are both dead. My mother died when I was twelve. And I didn't take it well at all. Of course any child would be sad. But I was... mad. Angry. Angry with the world and everyone in it. When my dad got sick, I was 20, I felt it all coming back to me. I had pretty much blocked it all out and tried not to think about it. But suddenly he requested my mom's cooking. He told me he wanted to taste her food again. So I went in the attic and looked for her cookbooks. Not the ones she bought, but the handwritten ones with all the family recipes. I tried some recipes, and wasn't very successful. On the first pages she included the methods, but later she only noted the ingredients. So that was the hard part. Dad helped me decipher it, and I got better. Somehow it all helped me finally mourn my mother and get over her death. By the time my dad had died, owning a restaurant was something I could imagine doing. I had helped him out in the hardware store, but it wasn't for me.

"His friend Buddy owns a restaurant so I worked there for almost a year and decided to change the store into a diner. But it still wasn't a safe option in my opinion. I needed to know if my cooking was any good, or if my dad's pal just gave me good reviews because he felt sorry for me. Buddy told me about this guy who wanted to sell his old food truck. We looked at it together, and I decided to buy it."

"Wow, that's crazy!", Lorelai interjected.

"I had a plan. The truck was cheap, it needed repairs, which I mostly did on my own. That way I could get an increase in value, or at least maintain it. I always planned on selling it after a few months, so the money wouldn't be lost", he explained.

"That's smart", she nodded.

"After a month of repairs and preparations, getting all the permits and licenses, I started my business."

"In Stars Hollow?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"God no. I was mostly in Hartford. Business district, sometimes in the industrial park where people maybe wanted to try something other than the pub or McDonald's for their lunch break. I wanted to see if people liked what I cooked. I always had some sort of stew on the menu, salad, burgers, one or two desserts. And with a few exceptions I was always out of food by 3pm. Later I experimented more with the menu. It was an easy job. I did the preparations in the morning, or sometimes the night before, and still had a couple hours to work on the diner. I made OK money, and after maybe six months I was ready to open the diner."

"But why did you change your style of cooking?"

"Well, people came to the diner because they were curious, but they let me know how they expect the food to be. Old habits die hard. I guess I made a decent cup of coffee, so Babette urged me to buy bigger cups."

"And you gave in? Wow, when I asked you for a cup you were close to saying 'I saw Goody Gilmore with the devil'."

Luke chuckled at that. "It made sense to me. Less running around. And their praise was music to my ears. Even when I didn't exactly deserve credit for the grounds. But it was a way to get them into the diner."

"How long did it take for them to get you to drop the fancy food?", Lorelai asked him.

"About a year. It wasn't so much fancy, just not what they expected in a diner. It was the smart thing to do. When I made burgers more people came in than when I made Bucatini All'Amatriciana", he shrugged.

"Makes sense. So, what else did they make you do?", she was curious now. Was he that easy a pushover?

Luke shifted a little, then cleared his throat. "Well, um, Babette told me I better apologize to you after our first encounter."

"What?", she perked up.

"She came to me after you had gone that day, and she told me I had behaved like an ass and that none of this had been your fault", he admitted a little shyly.

"Huh, so it wasn't because of the impression I left?", Lorelai asked him.

"Oh, you left an impression alright", he now was smiling broadly, but ducked his head.

"Hey!", she said and pushed him away with her arm.

She could feel a prickle in the pit of her stomach, and it felt similar to when she had pressed a kiss to his cheek a few weeks ago after he had driven her to the inn. That night she had lain awake for a long time, partially because she had just bought a house, partially she could still feel Luke's stubble on her skin from her jaw to her earlobe.

"Listen, before you get mad at me for not bringing a house-warming gift, I thought I'd make a suggestion."

"First of all, you don't have to give me anything. Second of all, shoot!"

"Maybe you want me to help you with some things around the house. I assume the upstairs doesn't look too good. I know Bill and Barbara's health wasn't too good in the last years and they couldn't climb the stairs anym-", he said before she interrupted him.

"Luke..."

"I know it may not be as fancy as a t-shirt with fries on it, but I'm not that bad with a hammer and nails."

"Luke, that's way too much. You can't give me that as a house-warming present", she insisted.

"I heard you just had a birthday. Is it better as a birthday gift?", he asked her flirtingly.

"No. You have a diner, you have a life, I can't make you do repairs on a house that's not yours."

"But I wouldn't mind."

"You wouldn't mind spending hours here getting yourself dirty? Because the upstairs bathroom is pretty much a disaster. It would take forever to remodel it. And I don't think a birthday is worth indefinite time. It's worth maybe the time you'd need for making a birthday cake. How much would that be? Well, you're better in the kitchen than I am. So an hour maybe?"

"I give you ten", he offered

"Five tops."

"OK, five hours of manual labor."

"And I'll help you. How do you think I should prepare?"

"Um, what do you mean?"

"Watch _Home Improvement_ , learn how to grunt, that sort of thing?", she asked him in all seriousness.

"That would be immensely helpful", he replied ironically.

"So we're doing this for real?", she asked him, wondering if he was serious about it all.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because, um, I like to help", he told her, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Because you like _me_?", Lorelai asked, her heart skipping a beat.

He simply nodded, but with the cockiest grin she had seen on him.

"Like me how?", she knew she was pushing it, but she had to have the clarity.

Luke slowly leaned in, hoping he wouldn't be doing the wrong thing, praying she wasn't like this because of the alcohol she had consumed. He wet his lips and immediately felt her warm breath on them. His eyes were drawn to her lips that were slightly open. Lorelai closed the distance between them by putting her hand on the back of his head and softly pulling him to her. Their lips didn't touch for the longest second, but then she registered his softness tickling her. He pressed his lips a little firmer to hers, which made her open her mouth and suppress a moan. She invited his tongue into her mouth, an invitation he gladly accepted. Carefully he stroked her cheek, still hoping he wouldn't go too far.

"Luke", she whispered when they broke for air.

"Sorry", he said and backed away from her.

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not sorry, I mean", she clarified and looked at him, wondering if he was really sorry.

"Really?", he asked her withthe slightest smile.

"Why would I be? You're cute", Lorelai told him.

"I wouldn't call myself cute, but if you say so..."

She gave him a peck on his lips. "I do."

"It's pretty late. I guess I should get going", Luke said and stood up, offering his hands to pull her up as well.

As soon as her hands were in his, he stroked his thumb over her skin. Together they walked to her front door, where they shared another kiss. Lorelai stood on the porch, watched him disappear in the darkness, and couldn't help but smile. The tingle in her stomach only stopped when she was clad in pajamas, lying on her mattress, and decided to take Mia up on her offer.

* * *

 **AN 2.0:** The detail about Luke's dad wanting to taste his wife's cooking one more time was inspired by my cousin Alex, who died 12 years ago. His brother cooked a lot for him in his last weeks, and one of his last wishes on his deathbed were blueberries. The other food-related thing in this chapter, the Bucatini All'Amatriciana, are for my Italian readers. Having seen those awful pictures on TV made me very sad, so I had to give you guys a shout-out. I use _penne rigate_ for my amatriciana sauce (don't hate me!), and it's one of my favorite pasta dishes. OK, now if I haven't scared anyone off with my long-ass ANs, it'd be great if you wonderful people left me some feedback!


	5. Chapter Five: Before Summer

**AN:** Look who's back. Me. And I come bearing gifts. The new chapter, that I started writing immediately after publishing the last one, but then I didn't have enough time to finish it which resulted in me writing for 20 minutes here and there. I'm so sorry for that! I'd give you your money back, but I already spent it all on hookers and coke. I want to thank my fantastic beta _Junienmomo_ for reassuring me that the chapter in spite of its patchwork writing doesn't feel patched together, for pointing out the mistakes I made and allowing me to fix them, and her general awesomeness. A special thanks goes to _DSLeo_ for making sure the Luke-Rory scene isn't cutesy or precious. Because folks, if there's one thing I don't get it's that Luke who is overwhelmed with the April situation on the show, is father of the year for Rory in fanfic. And the thank you trilogy will end with you, guys, my fabulous readers who read, fave and review this or other stories of mine. Sometimes I still can't believe that anyone is even interested in the things I write.

Since it's been so long, **here's what happened previously** : Rory and Lorelai moved into the crap shack, there was a housewarming party where Lorelai not only found out that Rory wants to write Christopher a change of address card, but also that Luke likes her enough to make out with after everyone else left the party. At the same party, Luke offered to help her with the still not functioning upstairs bathroom. Lorelai has attended her first town meeting, her car broke down and can't be repaired.

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Before Summer**

The last day of school before a long summer break. That certainly is cause for celebration. And is there a better way to celebrate than to have breakfast at Luke's diner? Lorelai and Rory entered the establishment a little after 7am, and were lucky to find a table they didn't have to share with strangers. The place was packed. Lorelai's guess was that she wasn't the only mother with a genius idea like that, since there were many schoolkids with their parents in the diner. She almost sat down with cautiousness, aware of the last time she was at the diner this busy and its owner's overstrained and downright unfriendly mood then.

"Can I order anything I want?", Rory asked her mom.

"Sure, kid. This is the last day of fourth grade. You're not a small child anymore. So anything you want. Irish coffee, what the heck!", Lorelai joked.

Her daughter looked at her as if she was told her the library would close forever.

"I was just kidding, hon", Lorelai clarified.

They studied the menus, and placed their order with Jo, a young mother of twins who helped Luke out from time to time. An hour later they were finished, and Rory had gone off to school, leaving Lorelai at the counter across from Luke, paying her bill.

"Hey, um, when do you want me to start with my five hours of slave labor?", he asked her almost shyly.

"Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to be patient. I want to declutter the bathroom first", Lorelai replied with determination.

"I could help you, you know. That way we'd be done faster", Luke suggested.

"I really don't want to waste those precious hours with things I could do on my own. I might need longer, but I'll be blasting the jam, singing along, and having the time of my life", she explained, unable to look him in the eye for long.

"What if I wanted to spend time with you?"

She smiled at him then, her heart fluttered a little, and she swore he saw a hint of that same cocky grin she came to like so much during her house-warming party.

Luke turned around to Jo, who was doing dishes in the kitchen. "Jo, I have to check on something in the stockroom. Are you fine without me?"

"Yes, boss", came the voice from the kitchen.

Luke took Lorelai's hand, went around the counter and walked to the stockroom with her in tow.

"You're not gonna yell at me now, are you? I knew to be careful when this place is jam-packed. But right now it's almost empty", she noted as Luke closed the door behind her.

For a moment Luke didn't say anything, just looked at her, which made Lorelai suddenly very self-conscious.

"We haven't talked about this yet, and I don't know what we are yet", Luke started.

"Wow, earliest DTR in recorded history. Not early as in 8am early, if you know what I mean", she rambled.

"DTR?", Luke asked her with a furrowed brow.

"Determine The Relationship", she explained with a wave of her hand.

"Oh. I brought you here to say: I really want to kiss you again."

Lorelai's heart skipped a beat and a smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him closer, angled her head, and waited for him to lean in. As he came closer and his breath tickled her upper lip, Lorelai yet again felt the butterflies flutter against her ribcage. She wet her lips, looked into his eyes, and saw the same anticipation mixed with uncertainty she felt inside herself. When he gripped her by the waist, she knew this kiss wouldn't be the tender, careful testing the waters it had been last time. Luke's lips crashed into hers, all uncertainty gone. She kissed him back just as hungrily, needing to taste him, wondering if he could feel her strong heartbeat against his chest. He pressed her against the door, trapping her with his body. When the need for oxygen won, he immediately went to delicately nibble at her neck, and Lorelai swore her knees would give out. She dug her hands into his strong back for support.

"Luke", she moaned.

"Yes", he said in between kisses.

"Oh God", was all she managed to get out.

She pulled his face up again and kissed him deeply, their tongues exploring each other's mouths.

"We need to stop", she said when they again had to part for air.

Luke leaned back. "I know", he said.

"I don't wanna stop", she admitted.

"I'm kinda getting mixed messages here", he smiled.

"One more kiss, and then I'll have to go to the inn", Lorelai offered.

"What if I drove you in exchange for five more minutes?"

"What about the diner?"

"It'll survive without me."

That was all Lorelai needed to hear. She grabbed him by the collar of his plaid shirt, lunged at him, and gave him a passionate kiss. His lips felt so soft, yet demanding. When the fog in her brain lifted, Lorelai wondered what this man was doing to her.

* * *

"See you at the town meeting tonight?", Luke asked her in the parking lot of the Independence Inn, the window of his truck rolled down.

"Yeah, I'll bring Rory. It's gonna be her first one. What's on the agenda anyway?"

"Who knows. Maybe Taylor wants a town festival in his honor, or Bootsy will try again for a liquor license for his newsstand", Luke shrugged.

She smiled at the thought. Luke had just said "again". "Hey Luke?"

"Hmmm?"

"I really like you", she said.

"The feeling's mutual", he nodded and drove off.

His heart was racing the entire drive home. She had told him that she liked him, _really_ liked him. After the kisses they had shared just today, he was certain he was falling hard for her. There was something about her that made his blood boil, not only in the bad way. Her open way had astonished him at first, but now he really enjoyed how she straight out told him what was on her mind. Not only that, after only knowing her for a couple weeks, she had told him about Rory's dad. He figured if she hadn't wanted that, she could have changed the subject, or thrown him out of her house. The thing that worried him a little was that he didn't really know her daughter, and he was anxious to change that. _Maybe tonight after the town meeting,_ he thought. He felt so energized, so full of beans that he quickly wanted to get his work for the day done, just to spend time with Lorelai at the town meeting, walk her and Rory home afterwards, and finally ask her out on a date.

Luke's spirits were high, he didn't really care that he parked his truck in front of the diner in opposite driving direction. He yanked the key from the ignition, got out of the truck and jogged back to the diner.

"Excuse me, young man", he was interrupted shortly before reaching the diner door.

He turned around. "What do you want, Taylor?"

"Lucas, you can't park your car facing the wrong direction. What if you get towed?", Taylor asked him with his eyebrows almost touching his receding hairline.

"Why would I get towed? The police have better things to do", Luke said with little patience.

"What if someone made them aware of this violation?", Taylor pressed.

Luke was quiet for a while, considering turning around the truck. A slow smile spread across his features.

"I'm sure no one from this town would do that. Certainly no one who is considering running for political office soon. Who would want to lose even one vote over a bagatelle like that?", he rebutted, his smile broader than ever.

Taylor cleared his throat, thrown for the moment and thinking over what Luke had just said. "Never mind", Taylor said meekly, gave Luke a thin-lipped smile and hightailed back to his market.

As he entered his diner, Luke couldn't wipe the smile off his face yet. He had just discovered a very effective weapon against the always improvements suggesting, pseudo-do-gooder, who the entire time was pushing his own agenda and used a fake interest for public welfare for each of his complaints. Luke went to wash his hands, and quickly made the rounds with the coffee pot.

"Luke, honey", Babette called out to him.

He closed the distance to the table where she and her husband were sitting for a late breakfast. "Yeah?"

"I don't mean to be nosy, but I couldn't help but notice that you're smilin'. Not that I'm complainin', you got a nice smile, doll, but you didn't use to smile a lot. And I can't imagine you're still smilin' because of Taylor just now. Because you're doin' it a lot these days", Babette stated with a little question mark.

"Um, yeah. I, uh...", he stuttered.

"Oh, I know. We all do. So I take it I gave you good advice? When I told you to apologize to her?", she dug deeper.

He smiled again. "Yes. Thank you, Babette", he said sincerely.

"You're welcome. I'm glad to be seein' ya happy again. Don't worry, this one won't leave. I got a hunch", she assured him.

"I hope so", Luke replied, suddenly lost in thought. He slowly moved back behind the counter.

"Stay cool", Morey added.

Luke had to smile at the dissimilar couple that somehow had managed to stay together for over a decade. He also hadn't noticed that he did in fact smile more often.

* * *

Later that day, Luke stepped out of the shower, and suddenly he felt like a teenager, all giddy and nervous about his "date" with Lorelai. Was he allowed to even call it that? He stepped in front of his closet to pick out his clothes, but even that task seemed to be too much. Would it be too obvious if he dressed in anything other than the usual plaid shirt? Of course he wanted to look good for Lorelai, but with an entire assembly of townies in the same room, who would indubitably notice the change in attire, he didn't want everyone else to know that there was going on more than the beginning of a friendship. Babette knew already that there were more than friendly feelings involved, though when he thought about their conversation earlier that day, he never got the impression that Babette was only milking him for the gory details, but he noticed a true concern for his happiness. That, of course, was due to the fact that nothing in this town could be kept a secret for longer than a jog around the gazebo. Everyone knew that his ex-girlfriend Rachel had left, again, only four months ago.

Luke chose a pair of dark jeans he owned for years, but since he almost never wore them, they looked way less worn than the ones he wears for work, and a gray polo shirt he couldn't remember buying. He went back to the bathroom to check his appearance in the mirror, then used his fingers to comb through his hair. A bottle of cologne his sister had given him for Christmas last year caught his eye, and he toyed with the idea of using it. He knew that gifts from this sister were rare, and this one in particular he only got because he had helped her with her move to a new apartment only a couple weeks prior to Christmas. His sister simply worked that way; out of sight, out of mind. Out of money, Luke back in mind. He eyed the bottle suspiciously, noticing that only a fraction of an inch was missing from its contents. He wished she would have spent the money on something other than the eau de toilette, books for her son perhaps, or food that consisted of ingredients that wouldn't give her trouble pronouncing.

"What the hell", he mumbled, and he spritzed some on his throat.

By the time he went downstairs, he saw Lorelai and Rory ride by the diner on their bikes. He quickly locked up, and walked over to Miss Patty's where they were entering the dance studio.

"Hey", he said after catching up with them.

"Hi Luke", Rory said, "I really liked my French toast this morning."

"Thanks, I'm glad. Do you wanna sit together?", he asked Lorelai and felt like he was back in seventh grade.

"Sure", she replied and looked for three seats next to each other.

They sat, they chatted a little, and soon Patty started the meeting. After a mild discussion about the budget for the Independence Day fireworks, and an exchange between Jackson the farmer and Mrs. Lanahan about the asparagus harvest, Paulette took over from the dance teacher to talk about the upcoming "Movie in the Town Square" night.

"I know this is only the second year we're having this movie night, but its success last year gives me the feeling that this will be an established town event, like the Spring Fling we had last month, the Founders Firelight Festival, and the Easter Egg Hunt. And I hope that our wonderful community will come together for movies as soon as I'll start having them at my bookstore at night", Paulette began.

Kirk raised his hand.

"Yes, Kirk?", the kind woman asked.

"Did you get my applications?", he asked the town selectwoman.

"I did, and as I told you on the phone the other day, you can't sell popcorn and tear the tickets at the same time", she explained, her voice very calm. She clearly was used to this.

"Believe me, I can multi-task. The other day I was playing with my Super Nintendo, while at the same time pressing mother's nightgown", Kirk informed Paulette and everyone else in all seriousness.

Lorelai failed to cover Rory's ears in time, which earned her a very distraught look from her daughter. Luke's wrinkled forehead told her that he suffered from the same visual as well.

"You're sharing too much, Kirk, I've told you this", Gypsy voiced everyone's thoughts, if somewhat censored.

"It even got me a new high score!", Kirk announced proudly.

"What movie did you pick?", Lorelai asked in an attempt to steer the conversation back on topic.

" _Working Girl_ ", Paulette replied.

"Ooh, fun! I need to see that one!", Lorelai said half to herself.

Taylor cleared his throat. "Excuse me if I'm interrupting this... thing we're having here that's far from a town meeting at this point. But I have something I would like to tell my fellow Stars Hollowians."

He now stood for his announcement. "In my current research on the town history, I've stumbled across an interesting event that took place in 1847. I found a source that said on Monday, the 12th of July, the citizens of Stars Hollow tried to poke the moon. They chose that night because it was a full moon, and they had prepared for it. In the source it said that a stick "longer than the length of the town square" had been built to achieve their goal. Furthermore a citizen of Dutch descent named Jos Doose is mentioned that apparently initiated the experiment. According to the book where I found it, the moon seemed bigger here than in his Dutch home town of Cadzand, so he thought the chances of succeeding were bigger. We still don't have a festival in July, therefore I'm suggesting we initiate an annual Moon Poking Festival. We can have it during full moon in July, which is on the 27th this year."

"We have Independence Day in July, what if both those days clash?", Luke wondered.

"In those years we could move it to June or August", Taylor rebutted.

"Do we really need another festival?", Luke wanted to know.

"Town festivals are tourist magnets. I haven't heard you complain about the extra customers", Taylor stated.

"I have", Lorelai interjected.

"I actually like the idea", Babette said.

"Yeah, it's nice for those who don't go on vacation over the summer", Miss Patty added.

"Think of all the food on a stick we could sell", Sookie proposed, "Cotton candy, corn dogs, fruit skewers, lollipops, corn on the cob, candied bacon."

Paulette watched the scene closely, then jumped into the debate. "Let's come back to this in two weeks, where we can discuss what else we could do. All we have now is food on a stick, which all sounds delicious, but we need more than that."

"We could reenact the actual moon poking", Taylor suggested.

"Dirty!", Lorelai interjected. She couldn't help herself this time.

"How would you even do that?", Bootsy asked him.

Taylor thought for a moment, but came up blank. "We will think of something and talk about it in two weeks."

"'We'? This is _your_ idea, Taylor, _you_ come up with an idea. If you want to thank your ancestor for a stupid idea he had 150 years ago, you do it in the privacy of your own home, and not drag an entire town into this. This is outrageous!", Luke fumed.

To calm him down, Lorelai took his hand and squeezed it gently. Her action didn't fail to distract him, but it had the opposite effect on his heartrate. Completely thrown, he forgot what even his last thought was, and instead focused on the satiny feel of her hand in his. In public. Luke was someone who felt uncomfortable blowing his nose in public, so this almost-PDA, this intimate skin contact, made him feel excited and uncomfortable at the same time.

For the rest of the meeting, Lorelai kept her hand in his, gently rubbing her thumb over his skin. After a while his heart started to go slower, probably to avoid a heart attack. He couldn't recall the last time he held someone's hand in public. There was this one time where his sister came for a visit when her son was maybe five years old. Liz had gone off to talk to some girlfriends, while Luke had to babysit his nephew. They went to Weston's for cookies and hot chocolate, something he loved to do in his childhood. Luke had taken Jess by the hand then, but this was completely different. This was a woman. And one he was falling in love with. This simple little gesture, as nervous as it made him for the moment, gave him a better perspective on their -dare he even think the word- relationship, and effectively calmed him down in that respect.

Luke had no idea what his fellow citizens were discussing that moment, but all of a sudden he felt like he was an asshole for not considering what Rory must be thinking of this. Had she maybe already seen her mother's hand in some other man's? With minimum body movement he tried to get a glimpse of the girl. He shifted in his seat, leaned forward a bit, and there it was, the look that went from her eyes that were so similar to her mother's directly to the hands that were making his heart skip a beat still. Luke gave her a shy smile, and he was surprised that she returned it with a much more confident, polite one that he would have expected.

After another ten minutes of Taylor and Jackson fighting about turnips, the meeting was adjourned. The trio went to get ice cream as per Luke's suggestion. Each holding their cones, they slowly walked through the streets of Stars Hollow. Luke felt still slightly uncomfortable. He wanted to have a conversation with Lorelai, he was dying to know what Rory's thoughts were, and most of all he was trying to pretend to like ice cream. By the time they reached the crap shack, Lorelai remembered their bikes were still standing in front of Miss Patty's dance studio.

"I could get them", Luke suggested.

"What? Why?", Lorelai asked him.

"Because you need them, and I could walk back to Miss Patty's, load them in my truck and bring them back here."

"Are you sure?", she wanted to know.

"Yeah, why not? I'd be back in ten minutes."

"Can I come?", Rory interjected.

"You wanna go?", Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Sure", Luke said at the same time.

"Cool, be back in ten", Rory said and started walking back to the town square.

Lorelai gave Luke a questioning look and shrugged her shoulders.

"Is that OK?", Luke asked Lorelai in a quiet tone of voice.

"Yeah, just get her back in one piece", Lorelai smiled and stepped closer to him to press a kiss to his cheek, which made it redden immediately.

Luke cleared his throat and quickly caught up with Rory.

"Hey", he made his presence known.

"Hi", the girl said.

"So, um, you saw that your mom grabbed my hand back at the town meeting", he half-asked her to confirm his assumption.

"Uh huh", Rory shrugged. "She does it when I'm nervous, too. I had to read a poem in front of the entire class earlier this year, and I don't like to speak in front of many people. She took my hand, told me to take deep breaths, and I wasn't totally fine, but it was better."

Luke, not being a public speaker, only public yeller, nodded in sympathy.

"Or with Sookie. Oh boy, that one time a dinner guest sent his potato gratin back like twice, and Sookie was about to burst. Mom took her hand and that calmed her down."

"OK. I can officially testify to its effectiveness", Luke mumbled. "Listen, if it makes you feel weird when your mom touches my hand, you can say so. I know I'm not your dad, so I can understand if this is weird to you", Luke explained and looked down to her expectantly.

"It's not weird. I've never seen my mom hold my dad's hand. She told me that you guys were friends."

"Oh yeah?", Luke said and tried to sound nonchalant, while at the same time he had trouble getting his heart rate to a healthier frequency.

"Yes. Plus, I overheard that conversation she had with Sookie last week", Rory told him.

"Um, OK", he said a little uncomfortably.

"I didn't mean to listen in on their conversation. Sookie came over for pizza and a movie. I was so full. Sookie made the dough and we all put things on it we like. So I went to bed early, but my belly was so full I couldn't sleep. My window was open and when Sookie left, I heard them talk about you", the girl informed Luke.

Luke didn't want to push her to go on, so he remained silent, torn between wanting to know what Lorelai had told her best friend about him, and really not wanting to know. Rory went on.

"Mom told Sookie she felt she was ready, and then talked about all this gross grown-up stuff like kissing", Rory grimaced.

Luke smiled, but could feel the heat in his cheeks. He cleared his throat.

"And that's OK with you?", he asked the unpleasant question.

"I am. I like that Mom is happier."

He nodded. They soon arrived at the dance studio and Luke loaded the bikes on the bed of his truck. They drove back to the crap shack in silence. Lorelai sat on the porch steps and waited for them. Luke and Rory put the bikes into the garage and the girl excused herself because she was tired. Luke sat down beside Lorelai.

"Thanks for holding my hand earlier", he said.

"You're welcome. It's a great hand."

"It is?", he said and looked at the back of his hand.

"Yeah. Long fingers, soft skin, no yucky finger nails", Lorelai remarked, and grabbed his hand again.

"Do you, um, wanna go to the movie in the town square on Sunday night?", he finally asked.

"Yeah, I love _Working Girl_ ", she nodded.

"With me, I mean?"

"I'd love to", she smiled.

"What about Rory?"

"She's sleeping over at Lane's. It's their little tradition when school's out."

"Do you wanna go have dinner before the movie?"

"Sure. You can only do so much talking during a movie until people around you want to kill you", Lorelai said and flashed him a bright smile.

"Great. Pick you up at 6.30?"

"Yes", she said, her eyes glued to his lips.

"Can I kiss you now?"

That's what they did for the next ten minutes.

"I better get home now", Luke announced, got up, and held out his hands to Lorelai to help her up as well.

"So, um, I'll see you Sunday?", Lorelai asked him.

"You're not coming in tomorrow?", he replied. He had gotten used to her presence in the diner fairly quickly.

"I need to start on the bathroom decluttering, so I won't be able to make it", she explained with a pout.

He walked her to her door. "Can I take a look?"

"There's nothing big to see beside a mess. So patience, grasshopper", she hoped he wouldn't press further.

"Alright. Just let me know when you want me to start", he said and softly pecked her lips once more before he got into his truck, stuck the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life.

Lorelai released a breath when he had backed out of the driveway and hoped to God that Rory hadn't turned the lights on in the living room. She went back inside and found Rory indeed in bed already.

"Hey sweets", the mother said as she sat down on her daughter's bed.

"Did your boy leave?", the girl smiled broadly.

"Yeah, he did. What were you guys talking about?"

"I explained the hand holding to him, and he asked me if I was OK with you holding his hand in front of me."

"And?"

"Mom, I've told you this. I am OK."

"Hon, I know what you said", she said as she stroked over Rory's forehead. "But I saw the change of address card you wrote to your dad."

Rory's cheeks reddened a little. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's normal to reach out to your dad. I guess. I'm a bad example though."

"I don't have his address", Rory said and it became painfully aware to Lorelai that that's a problem for the girl.

"I know. I can get it if you want it", offered and tried to ignore the screaming voices in her head.

Rory looked at her with big eyes.

"How?"

"From your grandma."

"She has his address?"

"No, she can get it though. From your other grandma. Do you want it?"

Rory nodded.

"OK, then I'm gonna get it for you", Lorelai decided.

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"Has dad ever sent a change of address card to us?", Rory asked. She looked so fragile in that moment.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "No, hon. But I'm sure he wanted to. Maybe sometimes it wasn't worth sending one because he knew he wouldn't stay there for long."

"Every time?", she asked incredulously.

"I don't know. He never told me."

"And you never asked?", the girl asked shyly.

Since when was Rory so curious about that?

"Sometimes you don't want to ask a question because you don't want the answer. With your dad I stopped asking after a while. Because it hurt too much when he said one thing but then it all happened differently."

"I'm sorry he hurt you."

"Don't be. He gave me the best little angel in the world", Lorelai said and pressed a kiss to Rory's hair. "And she now has to sleep to stay as pretty as she is."

"Night, mom", Rory said.

"Night", Lorelai replied and left the room. On her way to her bedroom, she saw the pile of change of address cards sitting on her tiny desk, but she ignored it for the night and went upstairs, where she hoped she could replace the bad memories of the past with a replay of the kisses she shared with Luke earlier.

* * *

 **I hope you liked the chapter. Reviews would be great, I only read them religiously.**


	6. Chapter Six: Summer, Part I

**AN:** Long AN, go get yourselves a cup of hot chocolate. First of all, I'm so sorry this took me so long. I'm awful, and I should treat my readers better. Especially when so many of you review, fave and follow this and other stories of mine. I'm so thankful for your support. There is nothing like a great review to make my day. And there's no one like _Junienmomo_ to read this pile of crap and make it a pretty little package of GG goodness.

OK, elephant in the room. Revival. I hated it. ASP did nothing to satisfy me. And my expectations were low. I want to thank all you fabulous fanfic writers who bothered to write all those great reconciliation stories, that had the awkward, painful LL conversations so they could heal. I read so many stories that brought me to tears. I'm really close to writing David Rosenthal a thank you e-mail because he gave us a respectable s7 finale.

 **Quick summary:** Taylor wants to have a crazy festival to honor his even crazier ancestor who tried to poke the moon in the 1800s. Yeah. Dirty. And pretty stupid. The two Ls want to go on a date, and Rory wants to let Christopher know that they have moved, but she doesn't have his address. Lorelai said she'd get it for her, which means -exactly- that she needs to let her mother know that they moved in order to ask her for his address. Also, Lorelai has been reluctant to let Luke into her house after the house-warming party. Weird, huh? Let's find out what happens next.

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Summer, Part I**

It's hard to describe how you know that everything feels right in a beginning relationship. Lorelai couldn't exactly pinpoint it either. Not that it had happened to her a lot. Or at all. Maybe it was because she was on a good path in general. She had gotten a promotion, bought a new house and all that had changed her daily routine so much that she felt she was living a whole new life.

And in that life, it seemed like she had a boyfriend. Their official first date had none of the stilted, fake conversations, and almost no awkwardness. They had had dinner already in the neighboring town of Beacon Falls, and now were enjoying the movie in the town square. Lorelai had her arm hooked through Luke's and her head was resting against his shoulder. She had felt so comfortable that she was almost considering inviting him into her Rory-less house later. But she couldn't do that. Not yet. It was very tempting though. At this point she wasn't really watching the movie anymore. She's seen it a hundred times, and felt her time was better spent trying to figure out what aftershave or cologne Luke was wearing.

Later that night Luke walked her home, slowly, anxious to never reach their destination.

"I think if we walk any slower, we'll just stand still", Lorelai remarked.

Luke picked up the pace a tiny bit. He hesitated. "I don't want the night to end."

"Me neither. But sooner or later the night will end. Usually when the sun rises."

They turned left into Lorelai's street.

"So, um, how did the decluttering go?", Luke asked her.

"Good, good. I'm not done yet, but I've definitely made progress. Maybe another three hours with a little more caffeine will do the trick."

"I would have brought you coffee if you had asked me", he said.

"Yeah?", Lorelai wondered. It would have been great to get a special coffee delivery from the diner man himself, but that way she would have asked him inside her house.

"Sure. Sometimes I need to get out of the diner. I have a delivery boy, Caesar. But every now and again I do the deliveries. Usually when I've been on the stove all day, or Taylor asked me to paint the diner again", he explained as they walked past Babette's house.

"That happens a lot?", she asked him in bewilderment.

"'Fraid so. He thinks it's for the good of the town if all shops look, and I quote, "like little birds flutter their wings against the walls every night to brighten the colors".

Lorelai had to laugh at that image. She walked up her porch steps and Luke followed her.

"This was a great date, Luke", she smiled .

"Glad you think so", he replied with a smile.

They kissed for a bit, but when their passion grew, they broke apart, panting as if they had just run the New York marathon.

"I'd invite you in, but the place is a mess, and I have to work early tomorrow", she lied.

"Lorelai, relax, I wouldn't have asked to come in. I get it."

"Get what?", she asked with a frown.

"That you don't jump into bed with random people, especially on the first date. And I appreciate that", he said matter-of-factly.

"You do?", Lorelai heard herself say. She hadn't heard a man say that in a while. Or ever.

"Yeah. I hope I'm not sharing too much because we don't know each other for that long, but I've been in an on-again-off-again relationship for too long, and I once took an HIV test because she did not have your morals. You got pregnant really young, so I get that you're more careful now."

"Luke, that's not even it. I mean I do have those rules, theoretically at least, but I was willing to throw them overboard for you. Rory is not here, and you smell amazing, and I feel like I can trust you. But you can't come in. Not yet", Lorelai told him, desperately trying to erase the comment about HIV he just made.

"OK. Not that I would want to come in, but what is it? Because there seems to be something that makes you want to sit out here like two days ago, when it's not really warm enough to sit out here for long."

Shit! Now she knew she had to come clean. She had meant it, she was willing to invite him in her house, maybe her bed even, but one minor, or not so minor detail prevented her from doing so.

She swallowed. "You remember at the house-warming party there was a lot of space in the living room, and that old pasting table for the buffet?"

He nodded. She nervously scratched the imaginary itch on her forehead and forced herself to go on.

"Well, there was all this space because I hadn't bought a couch yet. At first I thought it'd be wise to wait until after the party, but then my stupid car broke beyond repair, and I need a new one. That's why we're going everywhere on our bikes these days. The couch simply has to wait. And how embarrassing is it to not be able to afford a couch, especially when you date someone and they know you inherited a shitload of money not too long ago?", she rambled and looked at him expectantly.

"That's it?", he asked incredulously.

She nodded.

"Why?"

"Because it might be easy to sell it to a ten-year-old how cool it would be to have a mound of pillows instead of a couch, but to explain it to an adult?"

Luke came closer to her.

"Come here", he said and hugged her.

She fell into the embrace, astonished that he hadn't run for the hills.

"Thank you", came the muffled sound from his shoulder.

"Lorelai, you don't need to be ashamed of anything here. You had to prioritize, and that was wise."

"I'm sorry I wasn't honest before. I don't actually have to work early tomorrow. Wanna come in and take a look at Mount Pillow?"

"Not if you're saying this and are still uncomfortable. We can wait, I can wait", he assured her with his hand resting on her arm, as if to stop her from unlocking the door.

"You, my friend, are not a random person, you've actually been in here before, and I'd gladly invite you in", Lorelai proclaimed and unlocked her door anyway.

When Luke followed her into the living room, he was surprised to find an oriental themed mound of pillows of all shapes and sizes thrown together in the middle of the room. It looked very cozy and the dominance of golden fabric gave the room a homey feel.

"Wow, this looks... different than what I was expecting", he told her and looked around, noticing the differences to the last time he had been in here.

"I found some old curtains at the Inn, and there was this great fabric on sale, so I got my sewing machine out and started. It's nothing big", she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I like it. It fits you, and this house. I get why Rory would like it. As a kid I built a lot of forts between the couch and the window, mostly using pillows to keep the blankets from falling down the back of the couch and the window sill."

"Cool. Wanna try it out?", she asked him and motioned over to the pile of pillows with her head.

Luke gave a brief nod and both of them sat down. They moved a couple pillows around to get enough support and to make it more comfortable. Lorelai moved her body so that she could look into Luke's eyes.

"Hey Luke?"

"Hmmm?", he hummed.

"I'm not dating anyone else at the moment. And if you don't date anyone else either, could you imagine being exclusive?", Lorelai asked him and her pounding heart sent a signal to her palms to moisten up.

He didn't hesitate. "No."

Lorelai was confused, and felt as if she was wearing a corset that pressed all the air out of her lungs.

"Oh", she said full of disappointment.

"No, Lorelai, that's not what I mean. You said 'could'. You asked if I _could_ imagine being exclusive. I already _am_ imagining it", he clarified.

"Is that true?"

He nodded again, but couldn't answer because his lips were suddenly taken prisoner by hers. And so they stayed on Mount Pillow for a couple more minutes, kissed each other and enjoyed being so close. Luke insisted he go home after a while though. That pile of address cards still in the back of her head, Lorelai grabbed one on her way back from the door and wrote her parents' names and address on it. She took a deep breath and went upstairs. She felt amped up by her act of bravery and suddenly the bathroom looked tempting. On her energetic high, she got trash bags, put on some _Blondie_ , threw on her _Fry Day I'm in Love_ t-shirt and started to get to work.

The furry alarm clock told her it was after 2 am when she finally went to sleep that night.

The next morning she threw the scary card into the letter box and picked Rory up from Lane's. She knew her poor girl must be famished, which is why they went to Luke's for breakfast. If Lorelai had known how hard it was to date a diner owner, she'd never have pursued him. He basically watched her all the time, which made eating hard. Spilling coffee on her sweater made her look like a dork, and since she liked to watch him as well, and tried to get a glance at his derriere, her food was cold before she could eat it all, something she had to get accustomed to.

"Mom!", Rory basically yelled.

"Yeah, I'm here", she replied as she snapped out of her Luke daydream.

"You were talking about the upstairs bathroom, but stopped mid-sentence. You were saying?", the girl asked impatiently.

"Um, I got a lot done last night, all I still need to do it go through it with a broom, and then Luke can start with fixing a couple things. How are your waffles?", Lorelai asked her.

"They're _so_ good! They're not too sweet, so I can pour some syrup on them without it being too yucky. And your pancakes?"

"Super fluffy", Lorelai replied with her mouth full.

Just then she saw Luke smile from the corner of her eye. She turned towards him and smiled back. It felt so good being in love when things weren't complicated. There was no history, no baggage, just a fresh start, and that was exactly what Lorelai needed. She felt like her daughter was at an age where she could handle seeing her mother with a man that is not her father, or a man period. Lorelai hadn't dated much, and it had always been behind Rory's back.

* * *

A couple weeks later, when summer had fully arrived in Connecticut, Rory was knee-deep in her summer reading list and Lorelai had bought not only a car but also a couch. She had made the choice to not go in debt over either of the two, so the car was used, and the couch would have to be paid in eight installments. Rory and her mother came back to the crap shack after a day at the Independence Inn. Lorelai usually brought Rory to work during summer. She could read in the lobby or help with small things around the front desk. Lorelai now had her own office, so after lunch Rory arranged the items on her desk, dusted the shelves, then rearranged the items on her desk. Lorelai checked the mailbox, brought the pile inside and did the thing she now always did after coming home: made coffee. Rory called Lane to plan their next sleepover.

"Hello Mrs. Kim, this is Rory Gilmore. Is Lane home? I'd like to speak with her", Lorelai heard her daughter from her room.

She plopped down on a kitchen chair and went through the pile of mail. Phone bill, penny savers, the Stars Hollow Gazette, a letter from Mr. & Mrs. Richard Gilmore... Lorelai's heart skipped a beat. The dreaded letter. She ripped it open. Her mother congratulated her on her real estate purchase. She also included a list of three dates where she and Richard were available for a proper dinner at her new home to see where and how her daughter and granddaughter lived. Panic spread in Lorelai's chest.

"Rory? You still on the phone?", Lorelai said loudly.

"No. Why?", the girl asked.

"You still got something to read, right?", she said as she entered Rory's room.

"Yeah."

"OK, I need to go, but I'll be back in half an hour. Are you OK for that long?"

"Sure. Are you all right, mom?"

"Now? No. But I will be soon. I'm off, honey. Go to Babette when you need something."

Lorelai quickly walked to her car and drove straight to the diner. She parked in front of it, went inside, grabbed Luke, who was in the middle of taking Mrs. Slutsky's order, by the collar of his plaid shirt, and dragged him out of the diner. He looked at her more than confused.

"Lorelai, what-", he said before he was interrupted.

"Those five hours of slave labor? They start right now. I need a bucket of paint for the kitchen. My parents are coming to visit."

"The kitchen? I thought you wanted to start in the bath-", he again was interrupted.

"The downstairs bathroom is fine for now. I can tell her that the upstairs one is currently being remodeled. What I _cannot_ hide is the kitchen. I love the worn charm, and that it actually looks like we use it for cooking and didn't have some of Rory's clothes in the cabinets, but if my mother makes me host a family dinner, it has to be in the kitchen, and the kitchen can't stay like that. I can already hear her condescending remarks about every little detail. That woman has the eye of a freaking animal that has good eyes, whatever that may be", she ranted.

"An eagle perhaps", Luke interjected.

"I don't know much about the fauna, all right?", Lorelai now yelled.

"Calm down, OK?", Luke said and took her hands, rubbing tiny gentle circles on her skin, just like she did when he was very upset at the town meeting.

Lorelai took a few calming breaths and realized that she had just been yelling in the street.

"It's just... I feel so good at the moment, I feel so grown up. With my new house, car and safe job. And my mom won't be able to treat me like an adult. She belittles me, I feel like I'm a teenager again, so I start behaving like one. Not that I want to do that, but I somehow can't help it. And how am I supposed to host a dinner? Pheasant and blanched Brussels sprouts aren't exactly things I know how to cook. It pretty much stops at mac and cheese and PB and J sandwiches", she now said a little desperate.

"Hey, let's start at the beginning. Why don't you come in the diner for a cup of coffee and a donut? I can't leave right now anyway. John's shift won't start until another half hour. Then we can go buy paint. And on our drive home we can go by Sookie's to ask if she could teach you something, or make something you can heat up. How does that sound?", he asked her calmly.

She gave him a one-sided smile. "I can't. I promised Rory to be back in half an hour."

"Why don't you just go back home, and I pick both of you up at 3?"

Lorelai nodded and pressed a soft kiss on his mouth. "You can be quite gentle, monsieur."

"And you can be quite brisk, milady", he smiled.

* * *

The day has come. The day where Lorelai would be put to test by her mother. She prepared the house the best she could and hoped it would be enough. After the kitchen got a new coat of paint and a thorough clean-up of even the last nook and cranny, Lorelai was checking her image in the mirror again. She was wearing a knee-length summer dress in turquoise with small pink flowers printed along the hem. It was a new dress, she thought she needed a reward after an especially stressful weekend where Michel, the new concierge at the Independence Inn, was again doing more harm than good. He had replaced the numbers from the linen closet inventory with the amount of towels and table cloths he thought necessary to replace.

Lorelai walked around the house one last time. Rory was reading in her room, and the chicken had another 30 minutes to go in the oven. Thank heavens for Sookie who had had the idea to have the potatoes and the vegetables roasting comfortably under the bird to collect every drop of juice and fat that trickled from its skin. That way it was way less exhausting for Lorelai to supervise. Everything that could have been prepared, was prepared. The house, the food, safe points of conversation. What Lorelai couldn't prepare for was her inner restlessness. She had hoped she'd be calm and collected, but the closer 6.30 came, the more uneasy she got.

She wished she could tell someone how horrible she felt in that moment, but she didn't want to scare Rory. She wanted to play the good mom as always. Taking a deep breath, she thought that in maximum three hours she would call Luke. He had offered to come over for moral support after her parents would be gone. She couldn't wait to see him.

And just in that moment, the heard the doorbell ring.

Their hellos were friendly but distanced, and her parents had almost run Lorelai over in order to give Rory a firm hug, which the girl was definitely unprepared for. An assurance from Lorelai to Richard to be properly insured and a quick tour around the house later, four Gilmores were sitting around the dining table and arguing about the best way to carve the chicken.

"Here, let me", Richard said decisively as he took fork and knife from his daughter's hands.

He had had enough of the discussion. How hard could it be to carve a chicken?

"Breast or leg?", he asked Rory.

The girl thought for a moment. "Breast."

He nodded and did his best to get all the flesh from the bone, and he was quite satisfied with the results. He sat back down when everyone's plates were filled, and just as he wanted to start eating, Lorelai smiled shyly and said, "Thanks, daddy."

It melted his heart, just like this line always did. It was a rare occasion, and frankly, he didn't remember when he heard her say it the last time.

"Rory", Emily addressed her granddaughter, "tell me all about your plans for this summer."

"Lane and I will have a couple sleepovers, and in the last three weeks I'll go to camp", Rory replied as she munched on a few carrots.

"Camp? That sounds lovely", Emily smiled.

"It'll be my first sleepaway camp", she said proudly.

"Really? Aren't you too young for that?", Emily asked and gave her daughter a reproachful look.

"You know, I've been wondering the same thing, mom, but Rory has been going to day camp since she started school, and I've talked to her teachers, as well as the camp counselor. And we've come to the conclusion that Rory is definitely more mature than kids her age. And she'll be 11 in October, so she'll be one of the oldest in her class. Besides, I was going to sleepaway camp when I was her age", Lorelai added.

"That was different", Emily remarked and took a sip of wine. Mia had let Lorelai borrow the good glasses for the weddings that were held at the inn. And the cloth napkins.

"How was it different? I had turned 10 in April and went to camp that summer, and Rory is already ten, going 11 after summer", Lorelai defended herself.

Rory now gave her a pleading look. She shoved her plate slightly in Lorelai's direction, which caught her mother's attention. Lorelai took half of the chicken breast from Rory's plate and replaced it with half of the now boneless chicken leg on her own, and returned the plate to her daughter. Emily eyed the exchange suspiciously.

"I wasn't referring to Rory's age. The camps we sent you to were... different", Emily explained.

"They were different alright", Lorelai snapped and raised her voice. "The camps you sent me to were far, far away from you, and you paid a lot of money for them. Rory's camp is in Woodbury, so whatever problems there _could_ be, I'll be there in 30 minutes tops. And now, could we please finish this lovely meal Sookie prepared and wrote detailed instructions for?"

The silence lasted until the plates were empty. Rory showed her grandpa her room and all the books she had already collected, which left Lorelai and her mother in the kitchen.

"You want to send that girl to overnight camp when she can't even eat a chicken leg without her mother's help? What were you thinking?", Emily hissed.

Lorelai ignored her and went back to cleaning the dishes. "And who is this Lane character she was talking about?"

"Lane is Rory's best friend", Lorelai replied almost with indifference, her voice reflecting the exhaustion from the day and conversations like this with her mother.

"Do you know her?"

"Yes."

"And her parents?"

"I know her mother, OK? He dad's been in Africa for the last couple years", Lorelai now let her dishes soak and turned to her mother.

"So Rory has a black friend?", Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mother! Rory can choose her friends the way she pleases. Lane's family is Korean, her father is a missionary. And please stop this interrogation before they come back out of Rory's room", she said determinedly.

The tone of her daughter's voice silenced Emily. For now. It's always just for now, never forever. Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief when her dad and daughter finally came out of her room again.

"It looks like you'll soon be running out of space in there", Richard remarked with a hint of pride.

"I know, but Luke promised to build me a new bookshelf for my birthday", the girl replied.

Oh shit.

"Luke?", Emily said right on cue.

Rory apologized to her mother with her eyes. The Rory look. Damn. Lorelai knew she had to come clean. She can't tell her daughter it's bad to lie, especially to your mother, and then not follow her own rule.

"Luke is my boyfriend."

"And he's a carpenter?", Emily immediately wanted to know.

"No, but he enjoys woodworking, and he's quite good at it", Lorelai said.

"I see. Maybe we'll meet him at Rory's birthday then", Richard said before his wife could reply to Lorelai.

After that they had the yoghurt mousse with berries Sookie had made early that morning. The elder Gilmores left soon after, and Lorelai immediately dialed Luke's number.

"Hey Luke", Rory greeted him as she opened the door for him.

"Hi Rory", he said and stepped into the foyer.

"She's in the kitchen", the girl said.

Luke saw Lorelai polishing the wine glasses. He walked to her, she was facing the window by the sink. He took the glass from her hands and put it on the dining table. He hugged her from behind and took a whiff of her fragrant hair. He then rested his hands on her hips and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. "How did it go?"

She audibly exhaled. "She doesn't think Rory is ready for summer camp, she knows we're dating, and I really want a chocolate sundae."

Lorelai turned around and hugged him. "How was your day?"

"It's possible I made Pasquale angry", he confessed with a shrug.

"Are you insane? I need to get my sandals fixed and the sole on Rory's red sneakers is loose on one side. He knows we're dating, he won't fix our shoes. What did you do?", Lorelai asked him.

"We had the clam chowder discussion again, and I told him if he insisted I make Manhattan clam chowder, then I won't stand in the way of him going to Manhattan for it", he told her.

"Why did you do it? Everyone knows Pasquale could leave any day now. He's already pissed at Taylor for his stupid town ordinance 45d/31§6. We need to make Pasquale happy. Don't think _dirty_! I know, OK?"

"I'm sorry. I was busy, Babette sat there all afternoon, staring at my butt. I was agitated."

"Well, the woman knows what's good", Lorelai winked and let her arms wander down his back.

"What else did your mother say?", he asked her.

"She saw you missed a spot on the one kitchen cabinet."

"Well, we did paint at night. Which one?", he said and turned around to look for the spot.

"Not there", Lorelai said and walked over to the cabinet by the fridge. "Here", she pointed to a tiny spot between drawer and door.

Luke followed her, pinched his eyes almost fully closed, and nodded. "How on earth did she see that?"

"How should I know?"

"I'm gonna fix it right now. It can dry overnight. I'll go get the paint from the garage."

"OK, I'm gonna change. Rory? Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed! Back in five", Lorelai said and was almost in the hallway when she felt his hand grab her hand.

Luke pulled her back to him and he kissed her passionately. "You look amazing, you know that?"

"That's what all the guys say", she teased him.

When Lorelai returned from upstairs, she went to Rory's room to say goodnight, but her daughter was already asleep. She closed the door and turned around to find Luke kneeling beside the fridge. He was just finishing touching up the cabinet. Lorelai grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat next to Luke.

"Here", she handed him the bottle, "you deserve it. So do I. Cheers!"

They sat and drank silently for a while. It was a comfortable silence. "So, our plans still on for tomorrow?", Luke asked her.

"Yeah. Rory is so excited. She said she couldn't wait to walk on stilts."

"It was a good idea."

"Thanks."

"How did the fake moon erecting go?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Good from what I saw. They erected it right by the gazebo. It's more than 15 feet high I guess."

"This is such a Taylor thing. He comes up with this crazy moonpoking festival, and we erect a fake moon so we can poke it like his ancestor did 150 years ago."

"How many times did you wanna say _dirty_ just now?", he smirked.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. Luke moved so he was lying on the floor. "What is it about kitchen floors that I love so much?", he asked himself.

"What do you mean? You lie on kitchen floors a lot?"

"I remember when I was a kid we got a new kitchen. When it was finally done and my mother had wiped down all the countertops and cabinets, Liz and I were sitting on the kitchen floor and then we lay down. I still have the new kitchen smell in my nose. It wasn't just the new paint, the cabinets smelled like wood, and they had this new smell. I can't describe it."

"Well, enjoy this particular kitchen floor tonight. It probably won't be this clean in a long time."

He chuckled. "Come here", he said and pulled her on top of him.

Her hair fell into his face and she sat up, straddling his waist. He stroked her denim-clad thighs.

"How much do you wish I hadn't changed into the jeans?"

"How much do _you_ wish you hadn't changed into the jeans?"

"More than I wish I had that chocolate sundae", Lorelai said with sparkling eyes as she gently gyrated her hips.

"Lorelai!", Luke hissed.

"Come on! All that talk about erecting a fake moon to poke it did nothing to you?", she challenged him.

He was silent. Except for a barely audible moan. He closed his eyes and kept stroking her thighs. He should have kept his eyes closed. Because when he opened them he saw Lorelai was biting her lower lip with pleasure. He pulled her down to his chest and immediately thrust his tongue into her mouth. They kissed heatedly, their tongues dueling for control. His hands moved to her butt and up her back. When the need for oxygen won for now, they separated for a moment.

"Let's move this to the couch", Lorelai suggested.

She helped him up, opened the freezer to get ice cream, and walked to the living room where she settled on her new couch. Luke sat down beside her.

"Hey Luke? Do you think we could repeat what we just did in the near future?"

His cheeks turned red.

"What? You weren't so shy back in the kitchen!"

"I know. I kinda got lost in the moment. Rory was in the other room the entire time. That was careless."

"Well, there will be a time in the not too distant future where Rory will be in camp. Would that be better?"

"Definitely better", he nodded.

She tried to feed him ice cream. He made a face. Pearls before swine.

"Wanna do some moon poking then?", Lorelai asked him.

Luke nodded. Of course he nodded. He was a man. They basically had dry-humped in the kitchen just now. Lorelai took another spoonful of ice cream and immediately kissed him. Luke didn't hate ice cream that much after all.

* * *

 **OK, folks, that's it from me in 2016. I wish you a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and if you don't believe in any of this, just enjoy a few nice days off from work. May 2017 be free of more revivals, and full of laughter and love. Leave me a little review if you will.**


	7. Chapter Seven: Summer, Part II

**AN:** Hey everyone! I hope I was able to keep you entertained with a little one-shot about a pie-eating contest in January. I'm sorry I only update once a month. But I honestly don't have time for more at the moment. I'd say story-wise we're about halfway through here. Your reviews, follows and faves have blown me away, as always, you're really the best. I'm missing LL stories at the moment, the revival seemed to have triggered a lot of Rogan stories. As my faithful readers you might have noticed two things: I don't like repeating fanfic canon in my own stories, and I'm a huge James Bond fan. The latter will be mentioned here, and I present you (drumroll) a "No Cell Phones" origin story. I haven't read one, at least not that I could recall. The particulars of that scene were kindly provided by my girl _DSLeo_ who will be paid in chocolate for her services, and my beta of course is _Junienmomo_ who as usual took the time out of her day and read the chapter and knew exactly what was missing. What would I do without her?

 **Just a quick recap:** Lorelai and Luke have been dating for a couple weeks now, and Rory is going to sleepaway camp for three weeks so the two lovebirds can have some alone time. Read, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Summer, Part II**

"Bathing suit?"

"Check."

"Sun screen?"

"Check."

"Hat?"

"Check."

"Last item on the list: diving goggles?"

"Check."

It had been going like this for hours and for days. Packing, unpacking, repacking, checking and double-checking everything on the lists. Lists, plural. This one was just the outdoors in sunny weather list.

"You could think they will leave you outside on your own all day and just want to make sure you won't drown or get skin cancer," Lorelai remarked and put the damn list on Rory's desk.

"I like being prepared," Rory defended the list system that she more than appreciated already.

"Hon, there's prepared, and there's prepared for the nuclear holocaust during Ramadan. This is a list Emily Gilmore would make," Lorelai said with a frown, but paused for a moment. "Correction. This is a list Emily wouldn't make, yet she'd still expect you to carry every item of the imaginary list with you at all times in case you need to pull a bank job in inappropriate weather."

Rory exhaled a breath and frowned. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"What's with the mood?"

Rory's frown now matched her mother's. Lorelai sat down on Rory's bed, the frown replaced by a sadness written across her face she barely let her daughter see. "My baby is all grown up."

"No, I'm not," Rory said curtly and went back to packing her backpack.

"But this will be the first time you're not sleeping in the same house as me. What if I wanted to come downstairs and watch you sleep?" Lorelai asked with a pout.

"You do that?" she wanted to know.

"I did it during our first nights here. And then I do it sometimes when I miss you," she explained.

"I'll miss you, too. Besides, you have Luke. Watch _him_ sleep," Rory suggested.

Lorelai pondered for a moment. How much could she share with a ten year old? "Is that OK with you?"

"That you'll watch him sleep instead of me? Be my guest."

"No, that he'll probably spend the night here when you're not there?" she asked, got up and put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Why wouldn't I be OK with it? I won't be here," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I know, but let's assume it goes OK, and then the three weeks of camp are over, and then I want him to stay here with us sometimes. Would that still be OK?"

"Probably," Rory replied. She hadn't thought of it too much. She liked Luke, and she liked that her mom seemed happy.

"I want you to know that you have veto power over this. If you don't like it, you can say so, and he won't stay here."

"OK."

"Because I want you to be comfortable in your own house."

"OK."

"Because I love you, you're the best thing that ever happened to me, kid."

"I know, I love you, too," she smiled and hugged her mom. She loved that she was so considerate. She couldn't recall a conversation with her father that ever went beyond small talk, much less about how she felt about his current girlfriend. Now that she thought about it, Rory had shared more with her new neighbor Babette and her usually taciturn husband Morey.

* * *

The next day, with Rory out of the house and her worried mind still with her daughter, Lorelai sat across from Luke at the kitchen table. He had cooked lasagna. She didn't seem to enjoy it. He tried to remember if he had forgotten to use salt.

"Are you OK?" Luke asked her worriedly. She had ignored his last two questions.

"Fine," she replied absentmindedly.

"You seem distracted," he carefully stated.

"I'm not that hungry."

He scoffed. "That'd be the first time."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm probably not the best company tonight," she smiled half-heartedly.

"Tell me why you're worried. You told me yourself that Rory is very mature for her age and that you talked to her teacher as well as to the camp counselor," he asked her calmly.

"I feel so old."

"You're 27."

"With a ten year old daughter. And soon, she'll come back from camp with pierced earlobes, talking in pig Latin, I won't be her best friend anymore, and before I can recover from that she'll have her first period." she said.

"Geez," Luke said and made a face of pure discomfort, a feeling he quickly pushed aside. He cleared his throat, and took her hand. Even this simple gesture of comfort left her with a tingle in the pit of her stomach."You'll always be her best friend. I thought you were looking forward to those three weeks. We had plans."

"I know. And we're not gonna throw them overboard. Just give me this day to feel sad and pathetic, OK?"

"Sad yes, pathetic no. If you want we can go sit on the couch, watch a movie and have ice cream," Luke suggested with a kind smile. What else is he gonna do? He knew that Lorelai felt blue because she was a great mom who was missing her daughter.

" _You're_ gonna have ice cream as well?" she asked with a sparkle in her eyes that made him feel hopeful her mood that night could improve after all.

"We'll see," he replied noncommittally.

They moved over to the living room and got comfortable on the couch. Lorelai had her back against the armrest while Luke was sitting on the opposite end of the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. She grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels.

"Cool," she mumbled and started to eat her ice cream. _Lucky Luke_ was on.

Luke gave her a look she couldn't decipher.

"What?" she asked him.

"You're gonna leave that on?" he wanted to know.

"You're not gonna tell me Luke doesn't like _Lucky Luke_?"

"I was more a _Cool McCool_ kinda guy."

"Really? Wow, I never would have guessed that."

"I didn't consider myself that lucky. So the name kinda scared me off. It was bad enough I was called that at school."

"I see."

They fell into a companionable silence and watched TV for a while. Lorelai enjoyed the time with him, although they did nothing in particular that night. She wasn't in the mood for anything else, and appreciated him just keeping her company.

"I talked to Rory, you know," she announced when her bowl was empty.

"Oh yeah? About what?"

"About you spending the night here."

His heart began racing. She wasn't expecting him to... tonight? A minute ago she was still sad, what changed her mind so quickly?

She seemed to be reading his mind. "Relax, not tonight. You just said you didn't wanna be _lucky_ Luke," she said with a wink. "I meant I talked to her in general. And she seemed fine with it. Uninterested even."

"Uninterested?" he perked up.

"Maybe not completely uninterested. She was packing when we talked about it, that's like me when I'm eating. Who knows what she heard..."

"Lorelai! Can't you be serious?"

"I am. I swear," Lorelai said and held her hands in front of her as if to block something.

"OK, start at the beginning," he asked her.

"Well, I was helping her pack, going over those damn lists for the umpteenth time, and she suggested instead of watching her sleep, I watch you sleep. Of course I asked her if she was OK with you staying here, which she is. She said she'd be fine with you here even after she she returns from camp."

Luke breathed deeply because he was relieved to hear that. He couldn't help but leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. He ran his tongue along the outline of her lips and tickled her in the process. Lorelai granted him access to her mouth which he accepted gladly. She seized her chance and deepened the kiss to let him at least taste the ice cream on her tongue. He sucked it into his mouth, caressing and tasting her as their tongues twirled and danced around each other in the most soul-satisfying kiss. As soon as they had to separate for air she dipped her finger into the ice cream bowl and traced his lips with the remains of her dessert. Her lips chased the droplets that were decorating his mouth and running down his chin. Luke closed his eyes in pure joy of her ministrations, groaned softly and touched her bare arms in a way that had her skin on fire within seconds. Lorelai decorated his lips with droplets of melted ice cream once more. But before her finger tips left his mouth, he sucked her finger into his mouth and licked the sweetness off of her. For revenge, he copied her motions, thus turned the tables. This soon turned into a competition and Luke started to smear ice cream on her face, and when ten minutes later both of them needed to wash their faces and they went to the bathroom, he suddenly started laughing.

"What's the matter?" she smiled.

"This is perfect," he chuckled.

"What?"

"This is it! Once Rory is back from camp, you're not allowed to have ice cream with me present. You can't have ice cream with me in the same room. Your mind goes dirty, and you just can't help it," Luke explained.

Her face fell. "No! I promise I won't do it when she's here!"

"We've had ice cream together twice now, and both times we ended up making out on your couch. No more ice cream when I'm here."

He didn't say anything after this, and before the silence settled between them, a wicked smile began to play at her lips. She handed him a towel after she was done at the sink.

"Huh, didn't know you would _never_ get "lucky" Luke after all," Lorelai said, waggled her eyebrows, and started laughing.

Back on the couch, it took a few minutes before she had calmed down. Calmed down from her laughing fit, as well as calmed down from the tingle in her entire body his kisses had activated.

"So, how was your day at the diner?" she said in an attempt to get the conversation to a safe topic.

"Uneventful. I sent Jo home at four. And Kirk now has a cell phone, which meant I didn't have to answer the phone so much when his mom called. She can now call him directly and tell him whatever she thinks she needs to tell her 21 year old son."

"Huh, so it's a good thing he's got his own phone?"

"Absolutely. You can't imagine how many times his mother calls at the diner on a normal day."

"What does she want from him?"

"From what I understand or overhear from time to time, it's always about grocery shopping, or the food he's consuming at the diner, or if he's wearing the clothes she laid out for him."

"What a depressing thought. He's of full age, yet his mother treats him like a middle schooler. I can totally relate."

"You can?"

"Please... I, too, have a mother with a matriarchal personality disorder."

Luke had to chuckle at the expression.

"Please tell me when I'm like this with Rory. You have to promise to tell me."

"I have no doubt that I will never have to do that, but if you insist, I promise I will tell you," Luke nodded and caressed her arm.

"So don't be so hard on Kirk. He's got it tough."

Luke nodded. "All right."

"Thanks," she smiled. "You know what would be the best movie to lift my spirits tonight?"

He shook his head and noticed Lorelai's mischievous grin.

"A View To A Kill."

"No!" he immediately said.

"Please, Luke?"

He shook his head harder. "Pick another movie."

"But this one's so bad, you're gonna love it," she assured him.

"I've already seen it."

Her eyes widened. "You have?"

"I saw it in the theater when it came out, and it was a piece of garbage."

"No objections here. Roger Moore is like 84 years old, Grace Jones is scary, the psycho villain is not really working for me, and there's a freaking blimp in it. Paper butterflies, too."

He smiled then. "Great strategy. You just listed the cons."

"But there are pros! This movie is so perfectly mockable, I don't know where to start. You want me to go alphabetically or chronologically?" she asked excitedly.

"Neither. You can't put lipstick on this pig."

"But the Bond girl is also one of Charlie's angels, Luke. How can you not let me see this movie?" she asked him in bewilderment.

"Oh you can watch this movie. You'll just have to do it without me," Luke declared, which earned him her pout.

"Duran Duran is doing the song, Luke. _Duran Duran!_ "

"Yeah, and the opening titles are what, four minutes long? Sorry, but we're not gonna dance into the fire tonight."

"Mean," she whispered, while she was still impressed at the reference at the same time. She thought for a bit. "What if you watched this movie with me tonight," she started, but he was shaking his head again. "Let me finish, please. We're watching this movie tonight, and next week we're doing something together that you love and I hate. Deal?"

His brow furrowed, partly because he thought about what that could be and came up blank, and partly because he didn't know whether to accept her deal at all. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. But I'll give you a list of things I hate tomorrow. One exception: Dinner with my parents won't be on the list."

Luke exhaled and rubbed his eyes and forehead. "Fine," he mumbled into the palms of his hands.

"Yay, you're the best," Lorelai squealed, and pressed his body into the sofa cushions with her body. She hugged him and pressed a moist kiss on his mouth.

"Wow, I should watch misogynistic movies with you more often."

She playfully smacked his chest with her hand and smiled. "Come on, at least in this one the names aren't as sexist or over the top as in others."

"You're right. _May Day_ isn't over the top at all," he deadpanned.

* * *

It was the conversation with Lorelai about Kirk and his mother's phone calls that Luke was repeating over and over in his head a week later. He was trying his best to keep his word and not be too hard on Kirk. He had succeeded a few days earlier when Kirk dropped his new phone in a bowl of oatmeal because his mother had changed his ringtone and cranked it up to maximum. She hadn't told Kirk about her adjustments, so the poor guy startled when the phone he was just showing to Babette, again, started to ring. Luke had helped Kirk to clean up the mess and let him use the kitchen sink. But today, Luke didn't know if he could muster up that much self-control. It wasn't even a particularly busy day. Kirk was sitting at the counter, occupying three stools. He himself was sitting in the middle, on his left and right huge bags that contained God knows what. Luke had now tried unsuccessfully to take Kirk's order for the better part of half an hour, but the ringing phone and Mrs. Gleason on the other end of the line had prevented him from doing so. Luke was in a bit of a hurry because he was going to close the diner after lunch and spend the afternoon with Lorelai. It was time for payback for the dreadful _A View To A Kill_ she made him watch. But Luke was no monster, and he certainly didn't want Lorelai to feel uncomfortable so early in their relationship, so the punishment didn't fit the crime.

He picked the one thing from her list he knew she wouldn't completely hate, and he had a little surprise for her afterwards. After all, it was important to him that they use the three weeks without Rory to spend as much time together as they could. Luke didn't mind when Rory was with them, but it was different when they were alone. Lorelai was pretty much the same, but he did notice that physical contact took a more prominent place in their interactions. It was Luke who behaved differently, and he was aware of it. While in public or with Rory present he thought about how he would be perceived, keeping the façade of the introverted diner owner with a hint of grumpiness when necessary, and when he was alone with Lorelai, he couldn't care less about those things. They were together, and none of it mattered. He was freer, and he had to admit to himself that he very much liked that. He liked himself around Lorelai.

Kirk now almost yelled, which made Luke snap back to reality. "Yes, mother, I told you I'd be getting you the right things."

Luke was still standing behind the counter opposite Kirk, his pen and pad ready to take the order.

"Mother, you insisted I bring all the packaging on top of the very detailed list you handed me, of course I'm buying the exact things you want," Kirk went on.

Luke's eyes then wandered back to Kirk's two bags. He almost unnoticeably shook his head when it all clicked and he now knew what was in them; the packaging of every last item on Kirk's shopping list. Luke checked his watch. He knew he had to close in 30 minutes tops if he wanted to take a shower before Lorelai would pick him up at the diner. And he also had to sneak to her house to hide a little something for the second part of their date. He nervously tapped his pen against the notepad.

"Kirk," Luke said, "I need to take your order now."

Kirk nodded, yet didn't bother to follow the diner owner's request. "Yes, I'm getting you the stool softener and toilet paper."

As soon as Luke heard that, he had a look of pure disgust on his face. Kirk held the phone away from his mouth and mumbled, "God, I never thought I'd say those words in a sentence together."

If there was one place in the entire world Luke didn't want to be in, it was his diner in this very moment. Kirk talking to his mother about stool softener was just too much for him and possibly any other human being.

"I'm sorry mother, I know you aren't deaf, I saw the ear wax remover on the list."

"OK, that's it. Out!" Luke bellowed.

Kirk looked at him with big eyes.

"I mean it Kirk. Out, now! And if you ever want to come back in the diner, leave your cell phone at home." Luke raised his voice. "This is a new rule for everyone. No cell phones in the diner! Everyone who comes in here and talks on their phone, they will be thrown out immediately."

And with that, Luke threw out all the patrons, wiped down the tables, and went upstairs to get ready.

* * *

The sun felt so good on Lorelai's skin. Her eyes were closed, and she was about to doze off, but the sun and light breeze prevented her from doing so. Luke was barely able to keep his eyes off her and on his fishing rod. She wore cut-off jeans and a white blouse whose open buttons revealed her black bikini top. On her head sat one of Luke's baseball caps. His eyes lingered on her long, lean legs. The small boat softly moved from side to side, but he held tight onto the rod. He wasn't convinced he was gonna catch anything that day though. Either way, he had made preparations in case the sixpack of beer in the cooler wouldn't be replaced by this day's catch. He knew the mornings were better times for fishing, but it was either this or wait another couple days when Lorelai started work at noon. Besides that, Luke would much rather use a morning off and the diner in less capable hands - or at least he thought so - for something other than fishing. This was rare, but in the last few days he allowed his mind to wander to scenes he hoped would soon become reality; nights with no sleep and a lot of sex, and mornings in bed with Lorelai, the sun rising and drenching the room in yellow while they were making love. Lorelai had dropped a comment here and there, and she had signaled she was ready in general, but he didn't want to make plans in order not to get disappointed.

"Hey, hon?" she asked. This was the first time she called him something other than Luke.

A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. He couldn't remember a more perfect moment. There was this one time his dad took him to Fenway Park, but this was better. Both those occurrances weren't even in the same galaxy for Luke.

"I know I'm not supposed to speak because that would scare off the fish, but could you grab me a beer from the cooler?" she asked calmly and blinked into the sun.

"Sure," he replied and did what she asked him to do. He grabbed a beer for himself as well. They drank in silence. For Lorelai it wasn't as bad as she had dreaded. Though she had to bite her tongue more than once, she actually appreciated the silence. But she had to give it to Luke, he really had thought about the punishing aspect of fishing. They were outside, which wasn't her thing, she had to stay quiet, and afterwards - who knew what would be happening afterwards? She really hoped he wouldn't catch anything because watching him gut a fish really wasn't high on her list of priorities. And was she supposed to eat the fish later? A shiver went down her spine. She hoped he wasn't counting on it. Lorelai sat up and took another swig of beer.

"Who knew there would be only a thin line between fishing and sitting in a boat getting drunk," she remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"You wanna call it a day and go home?" he asked her.

"We can stay if you want. I don't mind. I actually like it."

"Who knew..."

"Apparently, you did. So I'm wondering what the true payback for _A View To A Kill_ will be, and more importantly, when you will do it."

"You really think I'm that cruel? There will be nothing after this," he assured her.

"Nothing?" she asked him, a bit disappointed.

"Well, nothing to punish you or for payback."

"Does this mean you enjoyed the movie as much as I'm enjoying this?"

"That depends. The movie itself? Not so much. You, as you did your Roger Moore impression when he said 'St. John Smythe'? Absolutely."

"Well, you're a great audience. And when you're impressed with my bad English accent, you should wait till you hear me sing every song from _Mary Poppins_..."

Later that afternoon as they were driving back to Stars Hollow, the cooler still empty, she asked him, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Ooh, intrigue."

When they pulled up at the Crap Shack, however, she looked more than confused. "Do you need me to get changed into something fancy?"

"No. I need you to get out of the car so I can cook us dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Yeah, you know, the meal you usually eat at night?"

"At my house?"

"Yes."

"The house with nothing in stock besides sprinkles and some questionable honey Rory brought back from a field trip to a beekeeper?"

He thought for a moment. "Yeah."

Luke then got out, walked around the truck and opened the door for her. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and took his hand as she swung her legs out of the cab of the truck.

"Anything to add?" Lorelai asked him.

"You go upstairs, change into something comfortable, and I'll wash up downstairs and get started on dinner."

They walked into the house, but she stopped before they parted ways.

"Luke, what are you going to cook with honey and sprinkles?" she couldn't help but ask. A mix of curiosity and desperation visible on her features.

"Relax, I got it covered. There's another cooler on the back porch that I put there before we left. And I'm gonna make salmon, mashed potatoes and sautéed fennel with tomatoes."

Luke then smiled at her reassuringly, so she went upstairs and he got started. He began with the potatoes, then he put the salmon in the oven, and when he was slicing the fennel, she was back in the kitchen, admiring how far he'd gotten.

"Could you, uh, get the salad and dressing from the cooler?" Luke asked her, which she happily did.

He shook the clear dressing he had put in a mason jar thoroughly, and then ripped open the bag of salad. He took out one leaf, dipped it into the dressing and held it in front of Lorelai's face. She eyed it a bit suspiciously. It was green and all. But the fresh scent of the dressing had her curious. She opened her mouth and used her teeth to get a hold of the salad leaf.

"Hm, this is not bad," she chewed.

"Good. Wanna toss the salad? Or do I have to make adjustments to the dressing?" he wanted to know.

"No, it's yummy," she smiled. Lorelai had to be careful, or Sookie would soon find out that she got cheated on culinarily.

Lorelai tossed the salad with the lemon and black pepper dressing, set the table, and admired the man in her kitchen. He managed perfectly fine what would have her sweating bullets within three seconds. Just when she thought he forgot the fennel, he expertly flipped it in the pan without even using a wooden spoon or anything, and after that he went back to mashing the potatoes. Luke moved around quickly, yet not one cell in his body spread a vibe of hectic or haste. He must have done it a thousand times. Lorelai now couldn't help but wonder how many women he had impressed with his abilities in the kitchen. She had no idea why this was a notion that was now floating around in her head, but pop culture had suggested that a man who was good in the kitchen was also good in the bedroom. She watched him once more, he now was kneeling by the open oven door, using tongs he removed the skin off the salmon and turned it upside down, just to place it back on the fish.

He stood back up, straightened, added a handful of cherry tomatoes he had cut in half to the fennel, and tossed it again with flicks of his wrist. Lorelai got up from the chair she had sat in this entire time and went to stand behind him. She couldn't help but touch his shoulders and press a kiss to the side of his neck. If she saw it right, his hands flinched a little. She delicately nibbled on the sensitive skin below his ear.

"Lorelai," he hissed through his teeth. It didn't stop her though.

Her hands started their descent on his back until they came to a halt on his butt cheeks. "You look incredibly sexy when you're cooking, you know?" she whispered into his ear.

"I do?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"Oh yeah. You almost look like you're dancing."

Her arms now moved to his stomach, before she stroked down his thighs. They both were startled when the kitchen timer went off.

"I need to take the salmon out of the oven," he said with regret.

"Bummer," she mumbled, but let him go and sat back down.

"I know," he nodded, "But you're hungry, aren't ya?"

"I am. Starving."

"OK, the fish is done."

She watched him as he arranged the food on the plates before he joined her at the table. Lorelai dug in, she even ate more of the fennel than she had originally intended. She knew this shouldn't surprise her, but Luke really was a good cook. The rest of the evening they spent on the porch. It was cooler outside, just perfect for sitting and talking and laughing and possibly kissing...

Lorelai smiled contentedly. "What?" he asked her.

"I had a great time with you today. I know this was meant to be payback for _A View To A Kill_ , but I don't know what you consider punishment. What I do know is that you're a really great guy, and I'm lucky to have met you. Yelling and grumpiness included. You could have me fooled, you know. After that first time I came into the diner I never would have guessed we'd be together three months later. I feel incredibly lucky, and I just said that, so time to stop with the rambling, Lorelai, you're repeating yoursel-"

His lips on hers stopped her for the moment. He gently kissed her as he moved closer to her on the porch swing. She felt his arms snake around her back and her pulse quickened. She could barely believe it, but she was falling hard for this man.

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to leave me a review to either pat me on the back, shoot me in the knee, or share a nice recipe from your grandma, your choice!_


	8. Chapter Eight: Talking Wood Dirty!

**AN:** Hello, dear readers. I know, I know, I'm late. I hope I'm not pregnant. Thank you so much for your reviews, faves and follows, I hope I won't disappoint your expectations. Another thank you goes to my beta _Junienmomo_ who did a proper spring cleaning and made this chapter more readable for you guys. And I can't forget to give a shout-out to my sister in heart _DSLeo_ , who is always my cheerleader.

 **Previously** Lorelai sent Rory to camp for three weeks. They had talked about sleeping arrangements because Lorelai wants Luke to spend the night at the Crap Shack at some point.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Talking Wood. Dirty!**

The three weeks without Rory were slowly coming to an end. Lorelai was just finishing work for that day. She had hurried all day to get her tasks done in time. Combined with her skipped lunch break she now would be able to leave two hours early. She was looking forward to spending the afternoon with Sookie. Her best friend had been so mysterious when they had planned their girl time together. Lorelai felt that Sookie was in a celebratory mood, but why would she be so happy to plan Rory's "Welcome back from camp" party? She arranged some papers on the reception desk and went straight to the kitchen to pick up her friend. They were going to spend the rest of the day at the beauty salon.

When their hair masks had been rinsed, Lorelai couldn't hold it in any longer. "Spill! Why are you in such a good mood? You look like you had a broom stick in your mouth sideways! Who is the guy?"

Sookie giggled, her dimples bouncing up and down from laughter. "No guy!"

"OK, then what is it?"

Sookie turned to her left, then her right, to the left again for good measure. "All right," she started and leaned over to Lorelai, "but you have to swear on George Clooney's smile that you won't tell a soul until it's official."

"Sure, tell me!", Lorelai demanded.

"OK, remember five weeks ago when I made the gilthead with saffron and Mia said she had never eaten anything so good in her life?"

"Sorta," Lorelai frowned.

"And then a few days later when no one ordered Patrick's Andalusian chicken?"

"Well, the region _did_ get its name from the Vandals," she nodded and smiled at the memory of Sookie's schadenfreude back then.

"There were a few other times, like that one time he added too much garlic to the tomato sauce, or when he forgot to order enough eggs and we had to use a mixture of corn starch and arrow root for the French toast. Anyway, Mia told me that she will demote him and promote me to head chef," Sookie happily announced and raised her voice to almost shrieking at the end of the sentence.

Lorelai immediately squealed and got out of her chair to hug her best friend tightly. "That's so great! You deserve this so much. Congratulations!"

"Thank you," the chef replied, her eyes closed and a big smile plastered across her face.

"This means we're one step closer to opening our own inn some day. I'm so proud of you."

"You know what it also means?"

"That Patrick now officially hates you?", Lorelai suggested.

"That too. No, it means I will fire Klaus as our vegetable supplier. His cucumbers really are hideous," Sookie nodded to stress her point.

"Maybe we'll find a local produce-producer. Haha," Lorelai giggled.

"That's for sure. Klaus bought way too much from California to earn my trust, lemme tell ya that..."

"Good, hire a local company. Then you will finally be able to create your own seasonal dishes. Which means you will finally stop talking to me about it. It's a win-win."

With new hair styles and painted toe nails Lorelai and Sookie went to the Crap Shack to plan Rory's party.

"So, um, you'll do the food, I'll do the decorations, and Luke will spread the word," Lorelai announced.

"He will?", Sookie asked.

"Yeah, he's in the center of town. Most people go to the diner every day, so he can invite everyone. Why?"

"Oh, it's just Luke seems so taciturn and grumpy at times. When you exclude the conversations with customers, he's only using 500 words per day."

"Well, three months with me and he's a regular chatterbox," Lorelai winked.

"Not to imagine how he'll change once you two hit the bonezone..."

"Sookie!", Lorelai shrieked.

"Sorry, just saying..."

"It's not that I don't want to, believe me, I do. I'm just scared that once Rory is back from camp that we'll have no time to do it."

"Why? You have Thursdays off, so once she's in school, you could-", Sookie suggested before Lorelai interrupted her.

"But he's working, he's always opening the diner, so mornings are off limits."

"Maybe you could ask him if he wants to hire a cook for Thursday mornings, or maybe he could train one of his waitresses. I bet if he prepares some stuff, they could manage."

"Thanks, Sook. I'll bring it up some time. But first sex, then talk about more sex, OK?"

"Sounds reasonable to me."

"But there's another thing..."

"What?"

"Well, you know very well that I don't do the casual dating thing, plus I'm no Traci Lords."

"Are you two just dating casually?" Sookie asked curiously.

"No! I mean, not entirely. I just don't want to get it out of the way, I don't want to get it over with. And our current relationship status is "dating". I want it to be more than that," Lorelai explained.

"What more do you want?"

"I don't know exactly. Just more."

"You sound like Vivian Ward to me right now."

"I know," she smiled.

"You're not gonna wait until you're married, are you?"

"No!" Lorelai almost yelled, before she started to laugh.

"And what about the other thing?"

"What if I'm awful at it? I don't have a ton of experience. I haven't dated much since I had Rory."

"Well, you have to go with your instinct. You know what goes where, and the rest is just 'feeling it'. How are the kisses?"

"They should have a million calories they're so good."

"See, then this is gonna be fine," Sookie assured Lorelai and put her hand on Lorelai's for comfort.

* * *

It was a warm summer night when Lorelai and Luke returned from Bridgeport, where they had had dinner at a restaurant by the ocean. Luke parked his truck in front of the diner and walked around the engine hood to open the door for her.

"Beautiful night," she remarked.

"Beautiful woman," he countered, and she almost blushed under the look he gave her.

"Wanna go for a walk?" she suggested.

"Sure. Where?" Luke asked, trying to hide his surprise over Lorelai suggesting physical exercise.

"Ice cream parlor?" she batted her lashes.

"You can't possibly be hungry still..."

"No, I'm not. My brain doesn't know that yet though."

"And you can behave in public?" he asked her carefully, his mind already going to the times they had ice cream and it went dirty fast.

"I promise!" she replied and raised her hand as if to swear she was telling the truth.

"All right, let's walk to the ice cream parlor," Luke agreed.

To Lorelai's surprise Luke had some ice cream as well, though in a much smaller portion than she had. "There's always enough space for ice cream", she had mumbled and given him a smile he would never forget.

Later that night when they were walking back to Luke's place, she had snuggled into his side as they walked in a comfortable silence. All the more surprising it was to her, when as soon as the diner door had shut behind them she was pressed against it, his tongue caressing the inside of her mouth, the sound of the blinds being deformed accompanying their lustful kisses.

"Everyone can see us," she said between kisses.

"Don't care," came the gruff response.

"You do, I _know_ you do," Lorelai muttered, while at the same time she was tempted to rip his clothes off of him.

She pushed him away, but followed him immediately. She wanted as little space as possible between them. How they made it across the diner and up the stairs Lorelai will never know, she only remembered that it took them forever. Once they were upstairs she noticed how Luke was more guarded.

"This isn't the moment where you tell me that you like an audience, is it?" she asked him carefully, dreading the answer.

He didn't understand. "What?"

"Well, you were quite, um, hot-blooded when we were downstairs just now. Up here, you're more reluctant. Did I do anything?"

"No!" he replied quickly. "I didn't wanna jump the gun, you know. I mean, downstairs, yes, I definitely wanted to jump the gun. But, um, let's take our time."

Lorelai nodded and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Her heart was hammering the whole time. She was wondering if he was as nervous as she was. He seemed rather collected. Horny, but collected. Though they hadn't explicitly talked about having sex on that very night, it was kind of implied. It was their last date before Rory would return from camp, and Lorelai had spent a fair amount of her afternoon primping. Plus, there were enough condoms in the side compartment of her purse to do demonstrations with bananas for an entire high school class. It had taken her hours and a consultation with Sookie before she did the final pick for the dress she was wearing that night. It was a tie between a warm, dusky pink one, and the classic little black dress. Her clumsy friend had opted for the black one, which was due to the fact that she thought about the danger of spilling something on the clothes. Since Lorelai wasn't one to let food go to waste, she chose the pink dress.

Luke liked how it clung to her body, almost as if it was wet. He again forced his mind not to go there for obvious reasons. He couldn't believe how much his life had changed over the past few months. He hated the word, but he felt happy. He watched Lorelai gnaw her bottom lip in thought, wondering what she might be thinking. She looked more beautiful than ever to him, something he never thought possible after dating her for weeks.

As if on cue, both walked to the couch and sat down, still quiet. Lorelai had her feet tucked under her thigh, looking at Luke, smiling as she caught a whiff of his now familiar scent.

"What?" he wanted to know, grabbing her hand to play with her fingers.

"Nothing, I just love the way you smell."

"Likewise," he smiled and leaned in to kiss her sweetly. He buried his hands in her hair. "I like your hair like that."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks. I've used way too much shampoo though. I have to get used to the shorter hair."

Their kiss grew deeper, and if he understood correctly, she had just breathed a lustful "You have no idea how much I want you" into his ear. He couldn't be sure because of the loud beating of his heart on top of the rush of his blood in his ears. He growled in response. He had _some_ idea. Though he couldn't know for certain, he was pretty sure he had a decent understanding of how much she might want him. If his own desire was any indicator, Luke assumed they could be on the same page for this. Behind her back he clasped his hands together and leaned back, taking her with him and effectively laying her on top of him. He didn't care how much of his desire he unveiled with that move. In a weak attempt to somewhat stifle his need, he mentally went through his closet on a journey to find the baggiest sweat pants he owned that could hide the fact that he was sporting quite an erection, but came up blank. His breath momentarily hitched in his throat when Lorelai's hand now came in contact with the very spot that was torturing him.

The shrill ringing of his phone interrupted them and they startled themselves. Determined to let it ring, Luke tried to kiss Lorelai, but she pulled back. "Rory."

"Huh?" he asked her with a frown.

"I gave the camp your number in case something happens," she explained and sat up.

"You did?" he asked and copied her movement.

"Yeah. I gave them my number, yours, the Inn's and the diner's."

He hadn't let go of her completely, and he was glad he hadn't. He gave her a grateful smile, he was honestly touched. Two out of four numbers she had given the camp were his. He stood up and quickly moved across the room to answer the phone. Lorelai followed closely behind, her hand ready to take the receiver, her heart again hammering. This time for a whole other reason. She was a millimeter before panicking.

"Hello?"

"Hiya big brother," came the voice.

"Liz!" Luke almost yelped.

"How are you?" she asked him.

"Fine. You?"

"I'm sooo good, big brother. I've been hanging out with some girlfriends, had some beers, then on my way home I came by this phone booth, and I thought of you, so I had to call you."

"Where is Jess?"

"Oh, I let him stay at home. Told him he was a big boy now, old enough to watch the apartment. He really dug it," she explained proudly.

"You let him stay at home all by himself?" he said with a slightly panicky voice.

"Relax, Luke. He's 11, not a toddler."

"But what if something happened to him? What if someone broke into your apartment? Have you thought about this?"

"Here we go," she slurred.

"What do you mean 'Here we go'? You can't expect me to not say something when you neglect your child and go out to get drunk, now can you?" he asked her angrily. Lorelai grabbed his hand in an attempt to soothe away his worries, but it was no use. He was too amped up already.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, you have no children, so who knew how you would deal with them? You think when you talk to Jess for five minutes on Thanksgiving three years ago it makes you an expert in child raising?" she said in a very accusatory tone of voice.

She knocked the wind right out of him with that one, too. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew he'd never get her to see his point when he was yelling at her, but he couldn't help himself. Own children or not, he was pretty sure it wasn't good to leave an eleven year old at home by himself in New York City. Hell, Lorelai never left Rory alone in Stars Hollow, a place where you could do that without a bad conscience, especially when you had Babette Dell as a neighbor.

"Listen, I'm sorry. You're right, I don't have kids, so I don't know how it feels like when you need a break," he told her, willing to appease her. It was no use making her feel more guilty now. He needed her to go home and not to the next bar to have a pity cocktail. "Just go home and see if he's all right, OK? And call me afterwards, please."

"OK," she nodded.

"Good. And Liz?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry."

"OK," she said and hung up.

Lorelai looked at him expectantly. When he said nothing, she pulled at his hand she was still holding and hugged him.

"You heard my half of the conversation, so you can imagine what she's said," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Only one question about a thing at the end. What did she say after you accused her of getting drunk?"

"She told me I had no idea how to deal with kids because I don't have any. She also pointed out how I only talked to Jess for a moment three years ago, which, granted, is true."

"Not to talk myself up here, but when you're a mother, you don't feel the urge to get out and actually go through with it. Lord knows when Rory was teething and her diaper use went up tenfold I was close to selling her and follow Bananarama after all, but I would never have gone through with it. And the few times I went out for drinks with friends, basically only Sookie, I made sure I had a babysitter. What I'm trying to say is that you're not in the wrong here."

"She definitely was wasted. I told her to call me back as soon as she's home. So if it's OK with you, can we postpone any activitites until then?"

Lorelai nodded. "It's moments like this that I wish my life was as boring and uneventful as your average Newhart episode..."

But when the call never came, Luke got nervous. He had no idea if Liz indeed never made it home, or if she was just too proud or pissed to do him the courtesy. By 11 PM Lorelai knew that nothing was going to happen anymore that night. And after she had pushed the disappointment aside, she suggested they just go to sleep, to which Luke agreed. They went to bed and she snuggled to his body. Luke enjoyed the proximity and appreciated her keeping him company. It felt good having her in his bed, even though there was no sex included. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep. The smell of her hair tried to lull him into the land of dreams as well, but the feeling in the pit of his stomach worked against the soporific that was her presence, her scent, her warmth and the steady rhythm of her breath.

Lorelai woke up and found the spot on the bed next to her as well as the apartment to be empty. She streched her limbs and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. She went downstairs to look for him, but he wasn't in the diner or in the store room. And why would he be? It was just after midnight and there was no delivery to be put onto the shelves. On her way to the bathrooms, Lorelai saw that the back door was slightly ajar. Her curiosity made her follow the ray of light that came from outside.

"Luke?" she said as she gently pushed the door open, and was immediately taken back by the croaky sound of her own voice.

"Hey," he said and looked up to her.

He was in the back alley, sitting on his haunches, giving the bookshelves a first coat of paint.

"I thought _I_ was supposed to paint it?"

"Hm."

"You build, I paint, remember?" she asked him as she came closer.

"Yeah."

"I'm the Bob Ross to your Bob Vila. We had an agreement."

"Sorry. I, uh, I couldn't sleep," he said apologetically.

"Liz?" she asked.

He nodded. "I don't know if she never made it home or if she made it home and can't call because she hasn't paid her phone bill, or she doesn't _want_ to call. I thought I might as well get started on the paint job," he shrugged.

"It's OK. You said the shelves needed more than one coat of paint, so I'm good."

Again he nodded, gave her a half-smile and went on painting the wood.

Lorelai watched him closely. "This is such a great idea for a birthday present. I never got presents my parents made, they just bought something. They still do. Mom adds dad to the birthday card and that's that."

"Well, it was a present. So that's good, right?"

"I guess. What was the last birthday gift you got from your parents?"

"From both of my parents together? I don't remember. But dad gave me this house on my last birthday before he died. Liz got the house we used to live in, which she sold as soon as he was gone."

"Really? Wow! Didn't that hurt you?"

"It did at first, but what would I have done with that house? I need one bedroom, not four," he explained, but mainly stayed focussed on the bookshelf.

"It's amazing what you made out of that pile of wood here," she said softly as she touched the yet to be painted parts of the shelf.

"Careful."

"Sorry," Lorelai said and removed her hand from the shelf. "I mean had someone else bought that exact same wood, they would have turned it into something completely different. A coffee table maybe, or a soapbox."

"Uh huh," Luke mumbled.

"You can turn the wood into whatever you want, isn't that amazing? Or it's incredibly horrific. The wood has no choice whatsoever," Lorelai added with a changed tone of voice. She sounded almost sad to Luke.

Had she not uttered that last sentence, Luke would have taken her statements about wood as some nocturnal babbling from his sleepy girlfriend. But that remark about wood not having a choice made him stop his task for the moment. He looked to her, found her face not with the usual soft smile, but more with a concerned frown.

"Are we still talking about wood?" he asked her in all seriousness.

"Dirty!" she giggled.

"Lorelai, what-" he said and stood up to walk to her.

"Sorry," she interrupted him.

"What did you mean with that line about not having a choice?" he looked her in the eyes, trying to read her.

She sighed. She didn't want to go there, because she didn't want his pity. Nor did she need it. But Lorelai guessed that she had to explain herself.

"Don't you think this entire wood thing is a metaphor for life?"

"How do you mean?"

"What I said before about someone else buying that exact same wood and turning it into something different altogether made me think of parenting. You can shape your kid. Or you can't, I don't know. I try to shape Rory, but I let her decide things, too. I gave her a lot of homemade presents over the years. That's why I like this bookshelf idea you had. It's in our tradition of crafting your own stuff, but it has your spin on it. I can paint, sure, but you can build. My parents would have turned this pile of wood into... I don't know. I guess they always wanted me to be a violin. A beautiful violin. Tiny and fragile and expensive. A Stradivari. But boy was I not a violin. The problem was that they still wanted me to be."

"What kind of instrument did you wanna be?", he asked her.

"A guitar," Lorelai replied wistfully, and he could see her tearing up.

Wordlessly he closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly. After a while she let go of him and motioned for him to continue with the paint.

"Their reaction was normal," she continued, "Of course they sent me back to the orchestra instead of to a rock band, but the tunes never changed. You can understand their astonishment when they never got the results they were anticipating with me. I had to live with the disappointment that I would always trigger, so it was a relief when I could turn to someone with similar experiences. Christopher was as big a disappointment to his parents as I was to mine, so I knew he would always get me. At times I found him incredibly silly. He didn't really fit in with the guys, and I didn't have many girlfriends. So one night after an especially ugly fight with my mother-"

"What about?" Luke asked.

"She insisted I be presented to society proper with a debutante ball. I told her I'd rather spend another holiday with Jimmy Carter at our hotel, and she told me I had no choice. I felt she yet again wanted me to fit in with all those other girls, like I was in a freaking Robert Palmer video, but with better plucked eyebrows. I went to Christopher's house after dinner, I snuck out my window. He was home alone, his mother had joined his father for a business trip. And I was still so upset when I got there, and somehow he could talk me down, and then he hugged me, and we started making out. We slept together that night. I waited until I knew my mother would be in bed for sure before I got home. I knew I didn't sleep with him for the right reason. It wasn't a true, big first love in that sense. We got each other and liked the same movies, but he didn't make my hands shake when he looked my way. Not like someone else I know," she said with an awkward wink to let Luke know she was talking about him.

She went on. "When I found out I was pregnant with Rory, he didn't propose because he loved me. It wasn't exactly a _Papa Don't Preach_ kinda situation. He did it because he was told to do it. He didn't love me. Not the way you're supposed to when you propose marriage."

Luke put his brush down and took in her sad features. "You don't have to continue."

She smiled at him then. "But I want to. I think we've been together long enough to inform you what a psychotic nutjob you're dating."

Lorelai paused for a moment, waiting for him to run for the hills. He walked towards her, cautious because of the paint on his hands. "I have to tell you something."

She looked at him, expecting him to now tell her he has a wife and family in Mystic or somewhere. "I like that you open up to me. I like that you talk about things, big and small. My parents never talked to each other. When my mother died, dad looked for the coupon drawer for weeks and months. The thing I learned from them is to do it differently. So please don't worry if you're driving me away with things you share. I'm here. For all of it, Lorelai. Even for the psychotic nutjob stories."

As soon as the tears had crawled back into her tear sacs, Lorelai didn't hesitate to throw her arms around his neck. A quiet sob was swallowed by his flannel shirt.

"Careful," she heard him say, but she couldn't care less about the paint that now decorated the sides and back of her t-shirt. She felt him press a kiss to her hair.

"I love you," Lorelai said then.

Surprised not by the sentiment, but by the words that yet again left her mouth of their own accord, she slipped out of their embrace, her eyes wide, partially from the shock, partially because she didn't know if she had scarred him forever. He didn't allow her to lose contact completely, and held on to her hands. The slow smile betrayed him immediately, and she couldn't help but reciprocate it.

"I love you, too," Luke said and put her hand over his heart as if to prove he was telling the truth.

And there it was, the _more_ Lorelai was talking about. She kissed him softly. Her kisses were answered with a passion she could not believe. Suddenly his hands were everywhere, paint on his fingers be damned. For the second time that night it took them forever up the stairs to his apartment. Had her mind not been on vacation in that moment, she might have thought about setting a new world record for slowest ascent of stairs. When after an eternity or two the door to Luke's apartment was in sight, she remembered something.

"Purse, chair," she mumbled incoherently.

"Huh?" he asked between kisses.

She tried again. "My purse. On the chair."

"Why do you need your purse?"

"Condoms."

He backed her into the apartment, their lips locked, and his hands on her butt. Passing by the table, she grabbed the bag. Judging by her own desire in that moment, she knew they'd be using at least a third of the condoms in her purse that night.

* * *

The next day when Luke pulled up at the Crap Shack he could hear the music blaring out of the house before he killed the engine. He was picking her up so they could pick up Rory together. He jogged to the house and knocked on the door, a task so stupid because of the noise level, but he did it out of politeness and out of habit.

"Come in!" he heard her yell, which surprised him. He would have betted that she didn't hear him knock. He opened the door and Wham's _Edge of Heaven_ was booming through the house. Lorelai danced down the stairs and sang along, wiggled her hips and smiled at him at the same time. For a moment he just stood there watching her, glued to his spot in the archway. She was so energetic, positive and beaming, he was fascinated with her. She pulled him with her to the entryway, pressed a soft kiss to his stubbly cheek, grabbed the remote to the stereo and turned off the music.

"Ready?" she asked him.

Still unable to speak, he nodded and smiled back at her. He hadn't noticed any of the party decorations, all this attention went to Lorelai. He followed her outside, closed the door and waited for her to lock it. In vain.

"Aren't you gonna lock?"

"Sookie's coming over in ten minutes to set up the food, so what's the point?"

He exhaled, and let her do the call. It was her house after all. But before they got to his truck, he pulled her to him.

"Wait a sec, please," he asked her.

"OK. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, more than OK, how about you?"

"I'm really very good."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah," she assured him and gave him a somewhat chaste kiss. "It was incredible," she confirmed. "Minus the search for underwear afterwards."

His cheeks reddened. "Well, I had no intention of keeping track of it in the first place. Not when you're naked. I had different priorities," he admitted.

"Thank God," Lorelai said, kissed him again, and climbed the cab of his truck. "Maybe next time you won't put on yours inside out," Lorelai teased him.

"Again, not my priority at that point."

"None of it matters today, I didn't bother to put on any," she announced.

He ignored it best as he could. Twenty minutes later they were loading Rory's backpack onto the bed of the truck.

"You look so tan!" Lorelai remarked and touched Rory's arm.

"You look so happy!" Rory returned.

Lorelai glanced at Luke who had a broad smile on his face. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Rory.

"We are," Luke said.

"I haven't seen mom so happy since her crush on Billy Jayne."

"Shhhh! You weren't supposed to tell!"

Rory giggled and hopped into the truck. Luke started the engine and steered the truck back to Stars Hollow. Mother and daughter chatted away and Rory told everything that happened at camp, the fun games and pranks, as well as the campfire stories.

"I can't wait to sleep in my own bed though. On more night on the cot and I would have voluntarily moved to the floor," the girl went on.

"My poor little girl," Lorelai said and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder. "You're gonna get shamelessly pampered for the rest of the summer vacation."

"What are the plans for today?" Rory wanted to know.

"Oh, I don't know. I thought you had a plan," Lorelai shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe Lane could sleep over?"

"Mrs. Kim won't like that one bit."

"I know, only sleepovers at their house so she can keep an eye on us," Rory remembered.

Soon they were back in Stars Hollow where Rory all but fell out of the truck when she saw Lane, Sookie, Babette, Miss Patty, and a couple others storming out on the porch to welcome her back at home. The girl ran to her best friend and they hugged and bounced up and down on the spot.

"So, um, looks like everyone is busy for the moment," Lorelai remarked and tried to sound nonchalant.

"Uh huh."

"Maybe we could, uh, go back to your place for a tiny moment. You know, check on something."

Luke caught on. "Yes, pie!"

"Pie! Such a great idea. Let me quickly tell Sookie we'll be back soon," Lorelai said and got out of the truck.

"Hurry," he said almost too late for her to hear.

She turned around and winked at him. He was dying to know if she had lied before and he hoped not too many people would be noticing they were gone.

* * *

 _I hope you liked the chapter, please leave me a review. I only read them religiously. Happy Easter!_


	9. Chapter Nine: Happy Birthday, Baby

**AN:** Hey there, my beautiful readers. I broke my writer's block and was able to finish this chapter after all. I had the beginning, but somewhere in the middle I had no idea where I wanted to go. We heard all about the Gilmores' routine for Rory's birthday at 4.03 AM, but what we never found out is what they did afterwards. With the help of my sister in heart _DSLeo_ , who is basically my beta for content, I was able to come up with what happens after. _Junienmomo_ decluttered the rest, and there you have it. I don't plan on having Christopher in this story at all, he deserves no attention whatsoever, so this is the closest we get.

Just a quick **recap** : Lorelai and Luke were busy making Rory a fabulous birthday present in the last chapter. They finally had sex after an intense conversation about parenting. Yup, that's about it.

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Happy Birthday, Baby**

The day itself had started normally. The sun had risen in the morning, and animals didn't seem to anticipate the foreshocks of an earthquake. Lorelai didn't have a bad hair day, nor did she cut herself while shaving that morning. In fact, Lorelai loved her Thursdays off. She would get up with Rory, see her off to school, then go back to bed for an hour or two, have a casual morning at home, and then she would show up at the diner to have a late breakfast. Which would then usually be followed by some much needed alone time in Luke's apartment. But her routine was altered when Eddie the mail man stood in front of her, his hand raised to knock on the door, when she was just opening it to leave. She had accepted the small package that was addressed to Miss Rory Gilmore.

Luke had immediately noticed that something was wrong when she entered the diner. Her facial expression always betrayed her. She didn't eat her food with the usual vigor, and during their lovemaking that noon she seemed distracted to him. Lorelai was half lying on his chest, her fingers absentmindedly stroking his arm.

"I got a package today," she told him.

"Oh?"

"I assume it's for Rory's birthday. From her dad."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So I assume my mom never got his address from his mother, and gave her ours instead, which Francine then gave Christopher. Beware that the status quo be changed," she added bitterly.

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely and pressed a kiss to her hair.

"You know she was looking forward to sending him that change of address card for weeks and months. The plan actually was that she had his address by the time she went to camp so she could send him a postcard from there. She packed a postcard and stamps and thought in case we got his address I could call the camp and give it to her."

"But wouldn't his address be on the package?"

"Yes, it would, if he hadn't used his parents' address."

"What do you think is in it?"

"I don't know. It's not too big, maybe the size of a sheet of paper and 4-5 inches thick. Books maybe?"

"Perhaps your mother gave him some suggestions."

"That wouldn't be the worst thing, you know. At least she'd give him an idea what Rory might like."

"Wow, I never heard you talk so warmly about your mother."

"I'm getting mellow in my old age..."

"If you're worried about if the shelf is too uncool-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"That's not even it. Rory will love it, she needs a shelf. She's an incredibly practical girl, and a useful gift is always right for her. I'm more worried about other stuff..."

Luke turned around to lie on his side, facing her. "Like what?"

She exhaled and propped her head on her fist. "What if she doesn't like it? What if it's something incredibly stupid? What if she'll hate him for it? You know, as much as I hated my parents when I was younger, I still wanted them to love me for who I was. Chris doesn't even know Rory, nor does he want to get to know her. I want my daughter to have a better childhood than I had."

"She does. She knows you love her, she has a best friend and is a nice kid."

"I know that, but I feel bad enough that she doesn't grow up in a two parent home. Chris' absence makes it infinitely worse. I want her to have everything," Lorelai explained and snuggled closer to Luke's bare chest. She couldn't explain it to herself, but the physical closeness made it easier for her to talk about those things.

"But she has everything she needs."

"How would she know what she needs? How can you need something you don't even know about?"

"Do you honestly believe that? That she needs something she doesn't know exists?" he asked her.

"You always need what you never had."

"I think sometimes you need what you had before and just feel nostalgic about it. But kids don't have nostalgia yet."

"No nostalgia for Chris, that's for sure."

He kissed her sweetly. "Listen, she may not grow up with her dad around, but at least she's growing up in a house of love."

"You mean like a bordello?" she giggled.

"You know what I mean! She knows you love her no matter what. And that's a step up from your parents' house, right?" he asked gruffly.

"Sure is."

"And you grew up with both of your parents around and it wasn't prefect."

"You're right. Chris and I never would have worked. At least my parents love each other. But what I'm wondering is what is worse: Being rejected for your personality, or not being acknowledged at all. I can't decide."

"You think he hasn't acknowledged her?"

"Wouldn't he be there for her if he had? He's busy setting a new world record of the slowest growing up process while his daughter is more mature than he is."

"You can't beat yourself up over this. You can't compensate for all he doesn't do. You do your thing, be her mom, be the amazing mother you already are," he said and punctuated it with a kiss, "and the rest is out of your hand. I know this is a bitter pill to swallow, but you have to come to terms with that."

"When did you get so wise, mister?"

"I haven't gone through this to the same extent you have, but I know I can't help my sister if she doesn't want to help herself. It's like a person lying on the ground, they can either help you when you pick them up, or they can make it really hard. If it's the latter, you're gonna have to lift all the dead weight by yourself, and you most likely are going to fail, so it's no use."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I really wanna x-ray that damn package though."

"Go to the doctor and smuggle it into the x-ray room then," he suggested jokingly.

"That should be funny. 'Miss Gilmore'", she imitated the doctor with a thick Boston accent, "'you seem to have a case of box-itis in your stomach'."

"Why is your doctor from Boston?"

"Hello? I can't go to local doctors, they might think I'm insane," she explained and waved her hand for emphasis.

"Unlike Boston doctors, who are used to their patients' insanity..."

"Maybe I'm just overreacting because he got her something, and sent it on time. Most years he didn't get her anything, or once he sent it in November as a birthday Christmas combo present."

"Yikes!"

She giggled a little. "Did you just say yikes?"

"Shut up, " he ordered while hiding his smile by kissing her gently.

* * *

Lorelai had set her alarm the night before, but she knew with certainty that she wouldn't be needing it. Her restlessness combined with some super-human inner clock made her wake up at eight to four on that early October morning. After a quick trip to the bathroom she slowly descended the stairs into the dark living room. When she walked into Rory's room, the girl was asleep. Lorelai had had it so easy the years before. She would just turn around in the bed, and could hug her daughter. Now she didn't know what to do. Was it still appropriate to just lie down and wake her up? Lorelai had debated with herself for weeks before this day. The spectrum went from letting Rory sleep in to sleeping in the same bed for the entire night again. This was Rory's first birthday that was spent in their new house and before it was the normal thing to do to just wrap her arms around her baby girl. But now the rules had changed. Lorelai almost felt like she had given birth for a second time and had to let go of her kid once more. She knew there was the ultimate goodbye somewhere on the horizon, but it was years until Rory would leave for college. There were a few nights just when they had moved in when they would sleep on the same mattress in the living room before Rory's bed was delivered. But other than that, they had not slept in the same bed since May. Hesitantly, Lorelai sat on the bed as if to test the waters. When Rory didn't move, she carefully lay down. She smoothed a strand of hair out of Rory's face. After a few moments Rory changed the position of her arm and draped it over her mother's stomach. Lorelai took the invitation and gently stroked along the length of Rory's arm, intensifying the pressure in order to wake her up.

"Wake up, sweet angel," she cooed.

Rory stirred and soon the two pairs of blue eyes made contact with one another. Hugs were exchanged, the birthday story was retold, and mother and daughter bonded over that little tradition of theirs.

After a while Lorelai asked Rory, "So, you want to go back to sleep?"

"Sure, it's early. Why?"

"Maybe I should go back upstairs then."

"No mom, stay. Please?"

"If that's OK with you, sure. I don't want to take up too much space in your bed, that's all."

"Can you just hold me? Like you used to do in the potting shed?" Rory asked shyly.

Tears were close to rolling down Lorelai's cheeks. But she blinked them away like she always did in Rory's presence and hugged her kid tightly to her body. Automatically, she started rubbing gentle circles on Rory's back. She was so touched that Rory apparently missed those old days a little as well. Though they never really talked about it, Lorelai assumed having a room all to herself was something Rory valued more than anything.

It felt good to Lorelai to hold on to that specific fragment of their past. There weren't many advantages to living in a shed without proper insulation for almost a decade, but the coziness and the many hours that they spent cuddled together would always be held dear to the hearts of both Gilmore girls. Lorelai let her eyes wander down to her daughter who fell back asleep like she did every year. As tired as Lorelai was, she tried to stay awake to enjoy Rory's presence a little longer.

Just like planned, Luke showed up at the Crap Shack a little after eight, his hands full with bags from the diner that held everything for a perfect birthday breakfast: pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast (who was he kidding, he knew the toast was for him), bacon, muffins and cherry danishes. He set the bags down on the porch as he needed his hand to fish the keys out of his pants that Lorelai had given to him three days before. Primarily, it was so he could put the new bookshelf for Rory in the garage already, but when he tried to give them back to Lorelai, she had told him about her plans for Rory's birthday morning and insisted he keep them. He quietly went into the kitchen where he started a pot of coffee. He snuck a peek into Rory's room and found mother and daughter huddled together on the bed, their chests rising and falling slowly. He had never seen a more peaceful scene in his life.

As instructed, he set everything up on the coffee table in the living room where they would have breakfast while watching a movie, something they were able to do in the potting shed without leaving the bed. He was just placing glasses for orange juice on the coffee table, when he felt Lorelai's hands snake around his waist. The heavenly aroma of coffee had interrupted her sleep while painting a smile across her face at the same time.

"Morning, handsome," she purred.

He turned around to press a kiss to her mouth, but she turned her head sidewards so it landed on her cheek.

"Sorry. More of those kisses later, first I need to brush my teeth," she explained on her way up the stairs to her bathroom.

He nodded understandingly. "Rory up yet?"

"No. I'll be down again in a minute."

Hours later when calculations about the stability of the couch after that opulent breakfast had been made, _The Princess Bride_ had been watched, and more than a few kisses had been exchanged while Rory was taking a birthday bubble bath, the Gilmores and Lorelai's taciturn sidekick went to the garage to give Rory her second birthday present. The first had been the VHS tape of _The Princess Bride_. Technically, the second gift was that Luke bit his tongue constantly and let Rory and Lorelai watch the movie in peace. As Lorelai walked backwards to the garage for the big reveal, Luke had to smile at himself at the vocabulary she used to embellish the backstory to the present, combined with the dramatic facial expressions to stress every word she deemed important. He was wondering if his sister ever did something this nice for Jess, or if she was talking so full of love when it was just the two of them. He felt honored and privileged to be invited into that intimate world with them. He had never seen anyone being like that with their kid, and he was sure it was all motivated by the fact that Lorelai would have wanted her mother to be like that to her. More friend or big sister than governess. His focus now shifted to Rory's wide eyes as Lorelai finally swung open the garage doors to reveal the bookshelf they had both made for her.

It was a simple design of two shelves with softly curved side parts that went up far enough so that the cover plate could be used for storing books as well. Luke had only primed the wood, and Lorelai had painted it a very pale pink, with flower trims along the edges. He unnoticeably nodded when he pictured it hung on the wall in Rory's room.

"Thank you so much," Rory squealed and gave her mom and Luke a hug. "Can we hang it right now?"

"Sure," Lorelai said.

"I brought my drill," Luke announced. Unnoticed by Rory, Lorelai mouthed _Dirty_ to Luke.

He blushed immediately and went to his truck to get his toolbox. They were almost on the porch, Lorelai insisted she and Rory could carry the new bookcase by themselves, when Babette announced her presence by yelling, as usual.

"Happy Birthday, dollface. Whatcha got there?" came the raspy voice.

"Mom and Luke made me a new bookshelf," the girl told proudly.

"Very pretty. I got a little birthday surprise. Cinnamon had her babies early this morning, and they're just the five cutest little fur balls. Wanna come look at them? Their eyes aren't open yet and their ears are all flattened to their tiny heads. But those tiny faces, you just wanna pet them until your arms fall off," Babette went on.

Rory gave her mom a look.

"Sure, you can go. Luke and I can handle this," Lorelai offered.

Luke set down his toolbox and took over the bookcase from Rory. When she returned and finally stopped talking about the kittens, she decided where she wanted the bookshelf in her room. Luke hung it in no time and Rory put her books on the shelf equally quickly. The rest of the time before the party was spent at the new fudge shop a townie newbie named Margie opened the week before. Luke had driven them to the town square, but didn't join them at Margie's _Fudge Factory._ He used the afternoon to prepare a few snacks for the party, as well as getting himself ready. He knew Lorelai's parents were going to come as well, and just to make it all easier for his girlfriend he wanted to give Richard and Emily as little reason to critique him, so he decided to doll himself up, as Lorelai put it. He would never call it that. He shaved, and put on a burgundy long-sleeved shirt that Lorelai had complimented him on previously. From his upper left hand desk drawer he took out Rory's other presents. He made her two bookends of the letters R and G, her initials, to go with the bookshelf. It was the first time that he had done some workworking in a long time. He had done some carving and turning as a teenager in his free time. In fact, turnery was the one thing his uncle Louie had begrudgingly agreed to teach Luke before he retired to Florida.

Now that the bookshelf as well as the bookends had turned out so well, he could imagine doing some other stuff. He had enjoyed the work. Sometimes Lorelai would keep him company and he definitely liked that. Luke balanced the huge tray of food in his hands as he walked down the stairs. He had wrapped the bookends in wrapping paper that Lorelai had told him to buy, though she didn't know what Luke would give Rory. The idea for bookends had come to him when he had some wood left over from the shelf. He had carved the letters R and G and then attached them to blocks of wood to give them enough weight to hold up the books.

While Luke was leaving his apartment, Lorelai entered Rory's room. In her hands she held the box from Christopher.

"Hey, hon. You almost done?"

Rory checked her image in the mirror again. She readjusted the butterfly hair clip and gave herself a nod. "Yup."

"Listen, before everyone else arrives, I wanted to give you something. This package came on Thursday, and I'm sorry I waited till now to even tell you about it. Here," she explained as she handed the package to a wide-eyed Rory.

"Who is it from?" she wanted to know.

"Your dad."

"Really? Is that why he hasn't called yet? Because he sent me a present this year?" she asked full of hope and naiveté.

"I don't know," Lorelai replied honestly.

Rory opened the brown package to find a slightly smaller box wrapped in pretty white paper with colorful polka dots. Carefully she picked at the scotch tape until she could open the wrapping paper without ripping it apart. Lorelai watched her with interest. Rory revealed a see-through plastic box that held the new GameBoy. The device itself was see-through as well and all the circuit boards were visible. Wordlessly, the girl opened the plastic box to find the GameBoy, two games and a travel case for the games. She looked at her mom and smiled.

"Wow, look at that, Rory. Do you like it?"

"Yeah," she replied and clutched it to her heart.

"Good."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lorelai went to get it and found Luke on the other side, smiling at her and looking fabulous.

"Hiya there. Come on in," she said and took a tray of food from him.

"How much time before the cavalry arrives?" he asked.

Lorelai lowered her voice as she followed him in the kitchen. "Not enough time for _that_ , monsieur."

"I wasn't talking about _that_ ," he shrugged.

"Then you shouldn't have dressed like _that_ ," Lorelai replied and pecked his lips.

He smiled, pleased that she agreed with how he dressed.

"Oh wipe that smirk off your face, you know exactly what you did and you got the exact reaction you wanted. Too bad this opportunity will go to waste..."

"Just using your own weapons to show you how it feels," he said as his smile got even broader.

She scoffed. "I don't think I ever wore a burgundy dress shirt in your presence, so I have no clue what you're referring to."

"I'll give you a clue. Thursday before this. Flippy skirt, no tights."

"Ha! So you _did_ notice!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

"Just because I don't visibly react doesn't mean there's no reaction."

"Dirty!"

"Hey Luke," Rory said as she entered the kitchen.

"Oh, hi. Here, I got you this," Luke said, his face now almost matching his shirt in color. He handed her the bag that held his gift for her.

"But you already got me something," she said.

"I know, this is just from me. The shelf your mom and I made together."

Rory took the bag from him and sat at the kitchen table to open it. Her jaw dropped when two beautiful bookends were revealed that matched the design of the new shelf.

So did Lorelai's. "Babe, that's so amazing, thank you,", she told him.

"Didn't you know about this?" Rory asked her mother.

"I knew he'd be making _something_ , but he didn't tell me what exactly."

"I was just making use of the leftovers," he shrugged.

"That's some pretty amazing leftovers..." Lorelai smiled.

"I'll say," Rory chimed in and gave him a one-sided hug, her other hand still holding one of the bookends.

"Want me to give you a hand?" Luke offered, she nodded.

Both vanished into her room, leaving Lorelai standing in the kitchen with a smile plastered to her face.

In Rory's room he was putting one bookend on the highest shelf.

"Here OK?" he asked the girl.

"Yes. How did you know which letter to pick for my first name?"

"I was figuring the R would be a safe option. I've never heard anyone call you Lorelai," he explained.

"That would be confusing."

Luke took a look around the room. He noticed something on her bed. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh, it's something my dad gave me for my birthday. It's a GameBoy."

"Do you like it?"

"I don't know yet. I unwrapped it before you got here. I haven't played. Yet. I plan on doing that. Though probably not today. Lane is coming over. So are my grandparents. And Sookie, and Babette, and a few others."

"I know. I made some snacks for later."

"That's brave. You know that Sookie is also making food."

"I know. I just thought in this house there can never be too much food."

"True. Especially because mom always feels unwatched when there's a buffet."

* * *

Later that day, after Lorelai had had one fluorescent pink cupcake too many and everyone had oohed and aahed over the cute kittens again, Rory was still pretending to not be tired.

"Come on, hon. I know you must be tired. _I'm_ tired. So you must be, too," Lorelai said while tidying up the living room.

"I'm not tired," Rory insisted.

Lorelai sighed. She knew what was going on. She sat down on the couch next to Rory.

"It's late, sweets. Why don't we call it a night?"

"It's not so late. Besides, I'm 11 now. Don't I get 20 more minutes of staying up time?"

Lorelai stroked over Rory's head. "Babe, I'm so tired. We need to go to bed."

"You can go. I wanna stay up a bit longer."

"What do you even wanna do?"

"I can do the dishes."

"Luke's doing the dishes right now."

"I can take over."

"Rory, I know you've been waiting for your dad to call all day, but it's after 11, and I really don't think he'll call," Lorelai said calmly. She hated that she had to spell it out.

"You don't know that!" Rory yelled and stormed off to her room, passing a stunned looking Luke in the kitchen. Lorelai followed her.

When Lorelai entered Rory's room, she found the girl curled up on the bed and a few tears had already fallen.

"Sweetheart," Lorelai whispered and sat down on the bed right next to Rory to comfort her. "I know this sucks. I am so sorry."

She stroked her daughter, hoping the physical contact would soothe her pain away. Rory clutched at her mother like she was drowning. Lorelai stroked over her hair, down her arm, over her back, but could still hear and feel Rory sobbing. After a while though, her breaths seemed to deepen and even out. Luke poked his head through the door.

"I'll be out in a sec," Lorelai whispered.

She untangled her limbs from her daughter's and went back to the kitchen. Luke had washed and dried the dishes and looked at her expectantly.

"Is she OK?" Luke asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," Lorelai replied and motioned with her head to the living room. She closed Rory's door on the way there and all but fell into Luke's embrace when then were standing by the couch.

"I wanna kill him," she mumbled into Luke's shoulder.

"I know," he replied sympathetically.

"My baby just cried herself to sleep for the first time in her life, and while I am aware that this won't be the last time, it shouldn't be because of her father. There are enough pigs out there that make women cry, their fathers shouldn't be among them. This makes me sick to my stomach," Lorelai said while her own tears were dangerously close to spilling out of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

"I can't believe he never called," said Luke.

"Me either. And he gave her a GameBoy? Does he know his daughter at all?"

"No being the obvious answer."

"Even my mother couldn't hide her astonishment."

"But she was demure for the rest of the night."

"I know. What is up with that?"

"Maybe she was just trying to be nice."

"What the falafel have you been smoking? I bet she had a flesh wound and had to _play_ nice."

"Are we still talking about your mother or about an antelope? Come here, you need to calm down."

They sat down on the couch and Lorelai cuddled into his side. For a while, they just sat there.

"Listen, I hate to be saying this, but I think I need to get going," Luke announced.

"You could stay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I told you Rory said she was fine with it. I bet she could use another batch of those blueberry pancakes for breakfast."

"Pancakes, huh?" he smiled.

"And I suppose I wouldn't mind having you over after this day," she said and inhaled his scent, adding, "Luke?"

"Hm?"

"Can you just hold me?"

He replied by tightening his grip on her. "I'd love to."

* * *

 _Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to all the girls whose dad made them cry. Oh, and "What the falafel" is one way to avoid the constant censorship on this fucking site when you write PMs. Leave me a review if you will!_


	10. Chapter Ten: Paper Back

**AN:** So sorry that this took so long. I would have come back with this story over a month ago, but my laptop decided to go on strike. The repairs took almost six weeks, but they were free, so who am I to complain? See where I'm going with this? ;-)

Anyway, thanks for the many reviews, faves and followes that I got since I last posted. I especially want to thank the guest reviewers that I can never thank with a PM. Your feedback is much appreciated. And of course I want to thank my beta _Junienmomo_ for decluttering the chapter, as well as _DSLeo_ who always has a good idea when I need some inspiration, in fanfic as well as in life.

Note that this chapter will contain some non-graphic sexy stuff. I know that this is a T-rated fic, so just to play it safe I raise my finger to say "I warn you. Run now or don't complain later". Also, I noticed in a fic I read that Babette's cat Cinnamon was a boy. I know the gender changed on the show, and since my version of Cinnamon had kittens in the previous chapter, you know I made her a girl. Just to clarify...

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: Paper Back**

Lorelai checked her watch and saw it was time to go home. _Finally_ , she thought and released a sigh. In fact, it had been time to go home 25 minutes ago, but wasn't it more fun to stay at work to make sure the new cleaning staff was doing their job while at the same time pretending her new shoes weren't slowly but surely eating her little toes? As she was making her last rounds through the Independence Inn, Lorelai ran into Mia.

"Weren't you supposed to be home already?" the older woman wanted to know.

"I know, I'm just finishing up."

"Is Rory staying at Lane's tonight?"

"No, actually," Lorelai said and could barely contain her smile. "Luke picked her up from school and took her home."

Mia returned Lorelai's smile and grabbed her hand to give it a friendly, almost maternal squeeze. "I take it things are going well between you two then?"

Lorelai nodded. "Very well. Today is the first time I let him do it though."

"I'm sure he drove a hard bargain," Mia smiled knowingly.

"Definitely. I had to let him cook us dinner or else he wouldn't have done it," Lorelai said with a wink.

Mia had to laugh at that. She knew how much Lorelai appreciated a home-cooked meal and how much Luke loved preparing one. She was glad the two got along and were such a good match. "I don't want to keep you, dear. Go home and enjoy your meal. Tell Rory and Luke I said hi."

Lorelai listened to her boss and went straight home. Coming up her driveway and parking her car behind Luke's truck was a comforting feeling to her. Seeing the crap shack and its warm lights with foliage covering her lawn and the few bushes made her heart jump. A few of their Halloween decorations were still out on the porch as well as along the path to the house. Entering her house, no, her home, and inhaling the scent of food was almost intoxicating to her.

She kicked her heels away as soon as she had stepped into the foyer and hung her jacket on the coat rack. She took a right turn into the kitchen where Luke was cooking dinner.

"Hey handsome," she said and went to the sink where he was washing lettuce. "What's the ugly green stuff in your hands? It almosts distracts me from noticing your apron. Remind me to mock you for that later."

She pursed her lips and waited for a kiss. He looked at her as if she was out of her mind. She opened her eyes to see his face still far away. "Kiss me."

"Say you're sorry," he insisted with a grim expression written across his features.

"Sorry I called the salad 'ugly green stuff'."

He waited.

"And that I wanted to mock you for your apron. You really rock that Donna Reed look, you know that?"

"Lorelai," he said and loudly exhaled.

"I'm sorry," she breathed seductively and leaned in. "I'm really sorry."

She came closer still. "So terribly sorry."

He could feel her breath on his lips and chin. It nearly gave him goosebumps.

She softly pressed her lips to his, but soon she was sucked into a very passionate kiss. Before it got out of hand and led to wild sex on the kitchen table with her daughter in the next room, she stepped back.

"What else is for dinner?"

"Lasagna, garlic bread and if you're very good and eat all of your salad you'll maybe get some cheesecake."

"Wow, you _are_ Donna Reed," she commented, which he ignored. "How much time before it's ready?"

"Ten minutes," he said and fished the last leaves out of the sink and put them in the salad spinner.

"Is that thing new?" she said and pointed to the spinner.

"No. I brought it over from my place."

"OK, I'm going upstairs to change."

She was back in no time and went to the door to Rory's room and knocked. "Honey, dinner's almost ready. Finish your homework and come out already."

Lorelai turned to Luke. "How did everything go today?"

"Fine. She didn't hear you though."

"Did she finally start to use her GameBoy?"

"No. She's not here."

"Couldn't you wait till the third or fourth time before you sold my daughter behind my back?", she joked.

"She's over at Babette's. I let her go after she had finished her homework."

"Ah. The big kitten watch of 1995. Should I go over and get her?"

"Sure. I'll make the dressing in the meantime."

Over dinner the trio discussed the upcoming town selectman election. That was when Rory wasn't talking about Babette's kittens.

"The one kitten is so much cuter than the other three. He's smarter, too," Rory insisted.

"He?" Luke asked.

"Lane and I are pretty sure it's a boy. He has this cowlick right above his eye. You immediately recognize him. All four kittens have a similar fur color, but his cowlick is special."

"Freak of nature," Lorelai remarked.

"Hey, um, Luke?" said Rory.

"Hm?"

"When Lane and I were over at Babette's, we were talking about the bookshelf you made me, and we were wondering what else you could do."

"Does Lane need a bookshelf as well?" he asked.

"Not exactly. Actually, we were thinking the opposite. How good are you at destroying things with wood?" the girl asked Luke.

"What do you mean?" he asked with curiosity.

"Well, you know that Lane has this passion for music and she has to hide it all from Mrs. Kim because she doesn't even let her watch Veggie Tales, so how would she react to Depeche Mode and The Clash? Anyway, Lane is running out of closet space and we were wondering if one could maybe her closet deeper so she could hide her CDs and stuff or something," Rory half-asked Luke, who was pondering what she had laid out.

"I could only say it for certain if I saw it all. It's hard to judge from the distance. Maybe one could do something with the floorboards even. Stories are higher in old houses, and the floors are deeper. I don't know."

"I'm glad you said you could look at it, because Mrs. Kim won't be at home tomorrow afternoon. Could you take ten minutes from the diner and take a look?" she suggested.

"I don't know how Mrs. Kim would like it if I did anything on her house without her knowing."

"Yeah," agreed Lorelai.

"Who knows, maybe it can't be done anyway, so could you please come take a look," she asked him then, giving him the Rory eyes.

He tried to ignore the look, but eventually he gave in. "All right. I'll take a look."

"Thank you so much, Luke," she said with a genuine smile.

"Don't mention it," he waved it off.

"This is the best lasagna recipe you've tried so far," Rory said as she happily chewed the pasta casserole.

"Yeah? I'm not sure if the bell pepper is too dominant," Luke replied thoughtfully as he ate another forkful.

"Not for my taste," Lorelai threw in, "and that says a lot."

"Can we keep him, mom?" Rory asked.

Lorelai coughed, but tried to cover it with a smile. Luke tried to ignore the comment as much as he could.

"We'll see," Lorelai said meekly.

"How many more recipes do you want to try out, Luke?" Rory asked.

"I have one more I'm curious about. It doesn't use minced meat, so the sauce has to cook for hours and make the meat mellow before you can pull it apart," he explained, thankful for the change of topic.

"Interesting. I think Sookie tried a similar thing once," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded. "I see you ate your salads. Did you like it?"

"It wasn't that bad," Lorelai replied.

"I liked it," Rory said simultaneously.

"Wanna have the cheesecake in the living room?" the mother asked her daughter.

"Yeah!" came the response. Luke had little to say. He was enjoying their company way too much.

When they had polished off their plates and Rory had gone back to her room to read, Lorelai asked Luke, "Will you stay for the night?"

"Sorry. I have to close up the diner and open it back up in the morning."

"Again? You do that today already," she argued while at the same time trying not to sound accusatory.

"I know. I don't like it either. I'd much rather spend the evening with you and Rory," assured Luke with an apologetic smile.

"Is it maybe time to hire a new cook?"

"I guess it is," he agreed with a nod of his head. His cook John was taking care of a sick relative, and his help was missed daily by Luke.

"Will you even have time on Sunday?" she asked, knowing Luke's birthday was only three days away.

He exhaled. "Probably."

"Luke..."

"I know, I told you I'd take the day off because you asked me to. Status now is that Jo won't be able to make it before 2PM. Which means I'll be yours at 3 the latest."

Lorelai tried to suppress her pout as hard as she could.

"Not the pout," he said and tried to kiss it away.

She turned her head away though. "First you said you didn't want birthday presents and only agreed to spending an entire day with me after I persuaded you with what you called very unfair means... Now I'm not getting a whole day either?"

"I told you. I'm not like you and Rory. An entire day in the spotlight would be hell for me. You do your thing, but this isn't for me."

"I'm not trying to convince you, Luke. But I've made plans. One day becomes half a day. I have to adjust my plans."

"I'm sorry," he offered weakly. He knew she was looking forward to planning someone else's birthday as much as having her own birthday party. It was a foreign concept for him, but he tried his best to understand her.

"It's OK. How long can you stay tonight?"

Luke checked his watch. "Not long. I'm sorry. I have to close up the diner. Will I see you tomorrow for breakfast?"

"Can I come for lunch instead?"

"Sure. How about I make us something upstairs? I have to open and close the diner. I don't have to work all day though."

"Sounds nice," Lorelai said and smiled. She had to take what he offered. Not seeing him was worse.

* * *

The rest of the week flew by in a haze of foliage and Taylor's campaigning. He offered all voters 2% off the fruit and vegetables at his market. Lorelai had Sunday off and arranged for Rory to go to the Kims for the afternoon. Her original plan was that the three of them spend the afternoon together after a morning alone with Luke, but Lorelai had to cramp twelve hours of plans into six, and Rory would join them later for dinner.

When it was time to meet Luke at the diner, Lorelai dropped Rory off at Lane's, a couple of Sookie's peanut butter cookies buried deep in her backpack, wrapped in cling film, then aluminium foil, a slice of apple wedged between the layers to distract from any peanut butter goodness leaking through. The package was then hidden in a sock.

"I'll pick you up around six, hon. Tell Mrs. Kim I said thank you, OK?"

"OK. Have fun with the birthday boy," Rory said and got out of the car.

Lorelai watched her go to the door and waited until Mrs. Kim let her in before she drove on. Luke already waited outside the diner and she honked when she saw him.

He got in. "Happy Birthday!" she said happily and pursed her lips for a quick kiss. "I see you're wearing warm clothes, like I told you to. Smart choice. Listening to a woman, you know?" she added, giving him a very cocky and sexy smile.

Lorelai drove them for about an hour before they reached their destination. "It's windy, put on your scarf."

"Yes, ma'am", he smiled and did as ordered. "Where are we?"

"Jacobs Beach," said Lorelai and took his hand to lead him from the parking lot to the beach.

The beach wasn't very long, but it was a nice bay. Due to the time of year it was completely deserted.

"What are we doing here?"

"Just a quick walk along the beach."

"Why?" he asked slowly.

"Because I felt like it. I like the beach. I didn't wanna wait till next summer. I think it's kinda nice that we have it to ourselves, don't you think?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's nice."

She cuddled into his side as they walked along the beach. The air was while cold very clear and fresh. Lorelai felt it was a bummer that although living in a state with a coast they barely ever went there. She remembered that after a few trips when she was a teenager she had come once or twice after she had had Rory and felt comfortable enough to put on a bathing suit in public. She had a picture somewhere of Rory's footsteps in the sand, as well as one where they made snow angels on the beach. She inhaled, and took it all in: the soft waves crowned with white foam, the calming scent of the air, Luke by her side. Lorelai wasn't one to constantly wonder about the future, but in that moment she was hoping that she would be this happy for many years to come.

When they reached the rocks on one side of the bay, they turned around and walked the other way. After 20 minutes they had strolled the beach and were ready to get warmed up. Not far from the beach they found a tea room where they enjoyed hot beverages. If they hadn't been given menues they could have believed they were sitting in a friend's living room. The interior was cozy, with a burning fireplace tucked in the corner of the room.

Lorelai sipped her hot cocoa and did a half-turn to get something from her coat that she had hung over the backrest of her nicely upholstered armchair. "I know I'm breaking several promises here," she started and noticed the questioning look he gave her, his brow slightly furrowed and a curious smile playing at his lips. "And I remember everything I told you, from the staying far away from you on your birthday to the promise not to give you a present." Lorelai explained while presenting a small square box and placing it on the table in front of Luke, next to his cup of tea. He looked at her, and back at the box. He grabbed it and held it in his hand. It felt light and wasn't bigger than his palm.

"You can open it, it's not anthrax or anything," said Lorelai and chuckled softly.

He smiled. He wished he wasn't this nervous all of a sudden. It was probably something funny, a joke, a prank even. He half expected a paper penis to jump out of the box when he opened it. He lifted the lid and was ready to duck and laugh at the contents. When nothing expected or unexpected happened though, he put the lid away and shoved the confetti aside. He found a small sheet of paper in the box that he took out, just to find another sheet underneath. When he removed the second sheet there was a third sheet in the box. All three were folded in the middle and without having been advised so, he neatly aligned them on the table.

Lorelai was watching him with intrigue. Her own nervousness at a peak, she wasn't expecting him to drag the reveal out so long. With all the restraint she could muster she repressed a "Come on!" and waited for him to unfold each sheet of paper. She noticed him exhaling and then he finally did what she didn't tell him to do. The sheets revealed "WANNA", "MOVE IN", and "TOGETHER?" and left Luke with eyes wide open and sweaty palms.

"Lorelai..." he started, at a loss for words.

"Don't say anything. Think about it. I had time to think about it."

He was quiet for a while. "OK, I'll think about it." Later he added "Thank you."

"For?"

"For the gift. The three sheets of paper. I remember. The second time you came to the diner. The first time you brought Rory. Pie and hot chocolate. You borrowed paper for a pro-con-list."

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "Yeah. Happy Birthday."

He leaned in and kissed her. Soon after they paid their bill and drove back to Stars Hollow.

"Since when have you been thinking about it?" he asked her somewhere between Hartford and Stars Hollow.

She thought for a moment. "Probably since school started. It wasn't a conscious thought process at first. But after a couple weeks I just missed you so much. It was different after we'd spent our first night together. Not just because of the sex. We've spent so much time together when Rory was at camp. Afterwards it just was..."

"...different. I know." After a while he added "I haven't lived with anyone in a decade. I haven't ever lived with a woman besides my mom."

"Is that something that concerns you? I have never lived with a man besides my dad."

"No concerns, but I think about it."

"OK. What else are you thinking about?" she asked carefully.

"Nothing. Everything. Frankly, I'm a bit shocked." Before she had the chance to comment, he followed up with a "Not in a bad way though. A sorta neutral shock."

She swallowed. "Neutral shock," Lorelai repeated. "I didn't wanna shock you."

"I know. We've just never talked about it. Moving in together."

"I'm aware of that. Thinking about moving in together was something that came gradually. And when I came home a few days ago and you were there, making us dinner I was so happy. I've never eaten something a man had cooked. Besides professionals cooks of course, which you technically are. So let me rephrase: I've never had a meal a man prepared and I didn't have to pay for. And it felt so nice. It felt natural. I gave you the key for Rory's party last month, and it never even occured to me to ask you to give it back. I'm so fine with you at the house that I don't want to let you go at night. I love that you went to the Kims house with Rory to look at Lane's closet. You watched _The Princess Bride_ with us too many times to count over the last month. You did it all with so much patience. Not that I can pull from a big bag of experience, but it amazes me that you're so nice to me. To us. But I get that you have to give it some thought."

He didn't say anything, but gave her a reassuring smile. When they arrived in Stars Hollow they picked Rory up from Lane's. Behind Luke's back Lorelai had arranged for Sookie to prepare them dinner which she only had to heat up once they were at the crap shack.

* * *

Later that night when they had had the mac-and-cheese-stuffed tortellini Sookie had made and the first shock had settled, Lorelai could take Luke's mind off of the entire moving in together subject. She for the first time in her life knew what it meant to have not good, but amazing sex with someone. No matter what he did and where he did it, the feeling was not that local anymore, she could feel her approaching orgasm in her entire body.

Then, she heard a knock that surely wasn't her heartbeat or Luke's. She heard it again, followed by a quiet "Mom?"

Lorelai froze, as did Luke. Her eyes sought his, and was reciprocated with pure panic.

"Are you hurt?" she heard Rory ask on the other side of the door.

Faster than she could register herself, Lorelai was on her feet, in her robe and out the door where her daughter was standing with wide eyes. Lorelai closed her bedroom door.

"Did you have a bad dream, honey?" she asked her daughter.

"No, I just went to the bathroom. And I heard your voice. You sounded like you were in pain. Are you all right?"

Lorelai hugged Rory then. "Of course I'm OK." She led her downstairs where they sat on the couch.

"What you heard was the opposite of pain," explained Lorelai. "This isn't how I had intended to tell you about this. But we'll have to make do. OK, here it comes," she said and exhaled to calm herself. "You know that sex exists, but you probably don't know too much about it, besides that that's how babies are made. Human bodies have certain needs. Needs like drinking, eating, going to the bathroom to let it all out again, that kind of stuff. And when you grow up, the need for sex develops. It's not a need that has to be quenched as frequently, but yes, people basically need to have sex. So what you heard was Luke and me having sex. And I know that you're way too young for this, and I wish you didn't have to hear it, but people make noises when they're enjoying it."

"So this was a good thing?" the girl asked her mother.

"Definitely a good thing. Most people say sex is better when you're doing it with someone you're in love with."

"And you're in love with Luke."

"I am. And he's in love with me."

"Can I ask questions?" Rory asked shyly after letting it settle for a moment or two.

"You most certainly can," assured Lorelai.

"You said that some human needs are less frequent..."

"Yeah. We drink more than we eat, and going to the bathroom is somewhere in between those two, right?" Lorelai half-stated, half-asked, and saw Rory nodding. "It totally depends for everyone, but sex is usually not a multiple times a day thing. It can be, especially when a couple first starts having sex."

"OK," Rory nodded again. Her curiosity stilled for the moment.

"Do you think you can go back to bed, sweets?" Lorelai asked and stroked across her daughter's forehead.

"Yes. I'm not a baby anymore."

Lorelai smiled. "I know."

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"Did he like the apron?" asked Rory, referring to the plaid apron Lorelai had sewn for Luke's birthday.

"He smiled and said he loved it."

"Have you asked him already? About moving in?"

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"He said he's going to think about it."

She walked Rory back to her room and waited a couple minutes before she went back upstairs to Luke who she was hoping hadn't jumped out the window.

He was sitting on the bed when she entered the room, fully clothed. "Hey," she quickly said, and sat next to him. "I'm so sorry, Luke. She thought I was in pain, and I talked to her. I never meant for this to happen."

"I think I'm gonna take off," he said with a coldness to his voice she had never heard before.

"Why?" was all she managed to say.

"I can't stay here. I can't look Rory in the eye."

"Can you look me in the eye?" Lorelai asked, daring him to finally stop staring at his shoes.

He raised his head and turned it sideways. His eyes she had once considered kind were now matching the coldness in his voice.

She tried to take his hand. He got up and walked out of reach. "Luke, what's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. At least when I'm at home."

"Why are you talking like that? I thought you liked it here. I get that I was too loud and I promise that it'll never happen again. Now could you please reconsider and stay for the night? We don't have to have sex, but I don't want you to go when you're mad at me," she tried to reason with him.

"I'm not mad at you."

"You sure make it seem that way."

"Lorelai, I'm going home now. I need to process this. You can't tell me that it's not a sign that this happens the day you ask me to move in with you!"

"A sign? What is this, a crappy romance novel? This was a coincidence. You either wanna live with us or you don't. No signs needed."

"Have you even asked Rory if she's OK with this?"

"Of course I have. I wouldn't have asked you if she weren't OK with it."

"Based on my gut feeling at the moment, I don't wanna move in. I don't want this to happen ever again, which means we can't have sex here again."

All of a sudden, Lorelai was feeling like a teenager again: horny and hurt. And just as quickly she was falling into her old teenage pattern of insulting and yelling.

"I knew this would come! I knew the other shoe would drop and the bubble would burst! I knew it was all too good to be true and at the first sign of trouble you'd be out the door. Patty said you had good bones, but all you were good for was your good boner," yelled Lorelai.

Without a further word, he walked out and stomped down the stairs. Tears of anger and sadness were streaming down her face now. She knew she had said too much, said things that weren't true. She heard the engine of his truck roar to life and watched him back out of her driveway from her bedroom window. Lorelai didn't know what to do. Had she been so wrong about him? Could this embarrassing incident really scare him away? Just as she was walking back from her window to the bed, she caught sight of herself in the mirror, only now noticing she had been crying and her entire body was shaking. She sat down on the bed where they had made love not half an hour earlier. She wrapped the comforter around herself and tried to focus on her breathing. After a while it was helping, she was able to calm herself down. Lorelai knew there wouldn't be an hour of sleep ahead of her that night, but she had to try to close her eyes for a bit.

She woke up at almost 4 AM the next morning after hours of not sleeping and then snoozing for a bit. And it was visible on her face. Dark circles under her eyes betrayed the crying and lack of sleep. She woke up with the very strong notion to talk to Luke as soon as possible. She jumped under the shower. A massive amount of make-up was used afterwards to try to hide the effects of their fight. It was enough that she was feeling crappy, she didn't need to look the part. When she was done she quietly walked downstairs and peeked into Rory's room, where the girl was sound asleep. The microwave clock told her it was almost 5 AM, just the right time for Luke's bread delivery, she thought. She walked to the diner rather than driving. The crisp fall air gave her fried brain some much needed clarity and perspective.

She knew both had overreacted and that Luke probably would never have said the things he said and buzzed off if he hadn't been so shocked by Rory knocking on the door mid-coitus.

The dimly lit diner was visible from the gazebo. Lorelai hurried across the town square and gently rapped her knuckles against the diner door. Luke was just putting the boxes of bread away and turned around when he heard the knock. His face reflected the surprise he was feeling. He crossed the distance to the door in long, quick strides and checked his watch in the process.

"Lorelai," he said, "it's early." He let her in.

"I know. It won't take long, I promise."

"OK," he nodded and moved behind the counter to start the coffee. Lorelai sat on a stool at the counter.

"Look, Luke. I didn't mean what I said earlier. But you have to understand one thing about me. I can't just have one Red Vine. I always eat the whole package. I can't resist. And in a way, I want to have all of you as well. I love you, and it's getting harder for me to spend nights apart. I get that you're very attached to that diner and your apartment, and it was similar for me when we moved out of the potting shed. But you know how much I appreciate my own space now? I'm not just 20 feet away and available for my co-workers all the time. I enjoy being away from there, to have a real home where I can relax on a deeper level. How many more of those 16 hour shifts are you willing to do? I don't want to force you to move in with together if you really think it's too soon, but can you at least consider what I just told you?"

He put a steaming mug of coffee in front of her and she carefully took that great first sip that was always too hot, yet very rewarding.

"Damn, that's good," commented Lorelai.

Luke had been silent, but she could see his wheels were turning.

"And about the other thing..." she started. "For my sleep-deprived brain this is such an easy fix. We could always lock the bedroom door from now on. You make me crazy, and what I was feeling tonight was otherworldly."

His nod was tiny but noticeable.

"OK, I didn't want to disturb you. It would be nice if you could pour this into a to go cup and I'll be on my way," she said and got up from her stool.

He took her hand that was still on the counter. "Stay."

* * *

 _The mac-and-cheese-filled tortellini are not something I made up. Here in Germany we have something similar to mac and cheese and I just last week had tortellini with that as a filling. They tasted unbelievably good. Leave me a review if you will._


	11. Chapter Eleven: The Big Talk

**AN:** Hello, Cleveland! Look who's back. I hope you had nice, relaxing holidays and a good New Year's Eve! May this year be peaceful and full of love.

Thanks so much to **Junienmomo** , my beta, and also **DSLeo** for her general awesomeness and for letting me use the chapter title! Just a little peek behind the curtain: This opening scene was originally written months ago for the second to last chapter I published. It didn't quite seem to fit, so I moved it, then moved it again after it didn't really fit into the last chapter either. I liked it here in this context, so let me know what you think. OK, without further delay I give you the new chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Big Talk**

"Gee, I wonder who I just voted for," Lorelai sighed as she entered the diner that Tuesday in November.

"Why is there an election when there's only one candidate?" Luke asked, annoyed with the subject as well.

"I know! I don't wanna know how much this phoney election is costing us. Maybe we won't be able to fix the giant pothole on Orange Street. I guess we should embrace the entire pothole concept and buy a swimsuit already, which is a very frustrating thing to do in fall. Maybe we should just skip democracy altogether and move on to the next system. Or better yet, we _come up_ with a new system. Or go back to monarchy."

"The US never was a monarchy," Luke countered.

"So we should give it a try. I'll be the queen, you're the jester, and Taylor will be incarcerated for high treason or something. Ooh, I like the sound of that already," she smiled and happily clapped her hands together.

Lorelai leaned over the counter where she had just occupied a stool and waited for a quick peck from her boyfriend. He set the coffee pot back on the burner and kissed her sweetly.

"For the record, I only voted for Taylor because he promised to expand the cereal selection at the market to at least the amount Seinfeld has in his kitchen," she emphasized.

"Why does he need to be town selectman for that? He could have just done that as a courtesy. Or as a smart move so you and other customers won't go to Walmart next time you're grocery shopping," Luke pointed out as he poured Lorelai a cup of coffee.

"Drat! He knows the market is on my usual route from work to the diner or from the diner home. Why would I want to drive halfway to Litchfield for cereal?" she asked before she took a hesitant first sip of coffee.

"All part of his wicked plan to have higher prices."

"But I'm saving on gas."

"True. Not to imagine how much you'd buy at Walmart where you can load your groceries into your car instead of carrying them home. You want something to eat?"

"I feel like eating something political."

"Like a straw hat?"

"My doctor told me not to do that anymore."

"Bummer," he replied dryly.

"Yeah, how about something that promises more than it is?"

"Like?" he asked with a roll of his eyes.

"A fluffernutter?"

He raised an eyebrow, half in suspicion, half as a challenge. "Coming up. But I'm adding sliced banana."

She grimaced, but nodded. The look he gave her left her with a warm and fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She almost wasn't hungry anymore. Almost. And this whole exchange had almost felt normal and natural to her. Almost. But she knew it was just a transitional truce of some sort before they would discuss the bigger issues they needed to discuss later that day. They had wanted to meet on neutral ground, and Lorelai had suggested the diner after closing time. She knew it was technically Luke's turf, but the place didn't feel like his. It was like a playground for the town's goofballs, as well as a place that made them both feel safe.

Luke served her the sandwich, and she was in a hurry so she wolfed it down. Luke's diner was always busy on election day, as the townfolk had a snack after voting. The atmosphere reminded her of the time she first came to the diner back in April. It was equally packed, but Luke wasn't alone this time. Jo was serving the customers while he was manning the counter. When he saw Lorelai was almost done with her sandwich, he walked up to her.

"So, we're still on for tonight?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah. What time should I be here?" Lorelai said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"I think somewhere between 8 and 9."

"Great. I'll come by right after work then."

"I thought you'd be off by 6 the latest?"

"I wanna make up for my extra long lunch and election break. Plus, I wanna let Mia go to the polling station before it closes. See you later?"

"You bet," smiled Luke.

"How much?"

"How much do I bet?" he asked her, his forehead in a frown.

"No, how much for the food?" she clarified.

He waved it off. "On the house."

"Luke! No! You have to let me pay for _some_ of the food I'm having here."

"OK, you can pay for it next time."

"And this time?"

"On me, as I said."

"OK, but just because I'm running late and have no time or energy for this discussion," Lorelai insisted.

Back at the inn, Lorelai was glad they had found a way back to their routine. It gave her confidence and made her feel positive about the talk the would have later. Rory would stay at Mia's for the evening to give Lorelai and Luke time to talk about the moving in subject and all the problems that needed discussing. Lorelai knew that she had already given her strongest argument; living close to your work meant being available at all times, hence never really having time to relax and recharge the batteries. Moving out of the potting shed had been harder for Lorelai than leaving her childhood home in Hartford. But soon after living in her own house with Rory, she also noticed that after-works hours really were work-free. No more "Lorelai, can you help out at the reception, just this once", or "Lorelai, Sandra can't get the red wine spot out of the carpet in room 23." She enjoyed having more free time, and she knew Luke would too. She couldn't count the days where he had to open the diner at the crack of dawn, as well as close it up late at night.

Lorelai had given the topic much thought. Maybe she could suggest that he open the diner an hour later and close it up an hour sooner than he does now. With a new cook he probably could even give himself a day off every week. A girl could dream... Perhaps she could persuade him to take Thursdays off, so they both could spend the morning in bed - after seeing Rory off to school of course - and he could make her pancakes with chocolate chips. The image of pancakes in bed after sex with Luke painted a broad smile across her face.

"Lorelai," the voice with a French accent interrupted her reveries.

"Yeah?" she asked quietly.

"James from the wait staff called in sick."

"Again?" she sighed.

"Yes. He said he had something-itis, I can barely understand the man. How can you expect me to remember something I didn't understand in the first place?" asked Michel in an accusatory tone of voice.

"I didn't say anything, Michel."

"But you were thinking it, weren't you? Admit it, the idea that a Frenchman with an accent complaining about someone with an accent is funny to you."

"I didn't say it was funny."

"You can barely contain your laughter."

"We've been through this Michel. When people smile, they do it because they're polite, not because they're making fun of you."

"Either way, you're not doing your skin any favors with those goofy smiles. It will be you who willl get their first laugh lines before they're 30, not me" he declared and walked off.

Lorelai sighed, grabbed the phone and called a few people who could maybe fill in for James.

20 minutes later, with no substitute for James in sight yet, Lorelai decided she needed some coffee. She went to the kitchen where Sookie was just finishing piping yellow ribbons of buttercream on a layer cake.

"Hm, looking good, Sookie. What's underneath the frosting?" asked Lorelai, reaching for a cup with her left hand and the coffee pot with her right.

"More yellow. Yellow cake with ginger and mango."

"Exotic!"

"I try..."

Lorelai took a big gulp of coffee. "So, um, James called in sick again."

"No way!"

"Way. And I've been on the phone for the last 20 minutes, trying to find a replacement."

"And?"

"Nothing. I don't know what to do. I'd fill in, but I have the big talk with Luke tonight."

"Right. Are you nervous?"

"A little. Things seemed normal when I went there on my lunch break. But who knows how things will be when we lay everything on the table."

"But it's better to lay it all on the table than to sweep your problems under the rug."

"But that's exactly the point. I didn't even _know_ we had problems! These rose-colored glasses came off with a bang, quite literally!" explained Lorelai with a motion of her hand.

"Sweetie," Sookie said and put her hand on Lorelai's arm, "You'll probably be able to convince him to move in together. There are more advantages than disadvantages."

"I know there are. I've just never had the big talk. With anyone. Aside from telling Christopher I was pregnant of course. Which was more of a monolog."

"Not to change the subject, but what'll you do about James?"

"I still have one ace up my sleeve."

"I mean in general. He's been calling in sick a lot lately. We might as well start calling him Harvey."

"I know. He'll definitely get a warning. And if there's a next time, I'll have to fire him," sighed Lorelai.

"Oh, that'd be your first time," said Sookie with an understanding nod.

"I know. It's been a good run. I've been assistent manager for over six months. It had to happen some time."

"So, what's the ace up your sleeve?" Sookied wondered.

"I need to a make call before I can make the actual call," said Lorelai, but without further explanation she was out the kitchen door and back at the front desk.

Her first call was to Luke, to ask his permission to make the second call. The second call was to Jo, Luke's waitress and young mother of twins. Lorelai didn't even have to throw in the babysitting to convince Jo to fill in for the night. With a contented sigh, Lorelai was about to inform Mia, Michel and Sookie of her success. The phone still in her hand, it began to ring.

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking, how may I help you?"

"Lorelai, this is your mother."

She could stop the hiss she was about to make. "Mom, hi. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine."

"How's dad?"

"He's fine also."

"Good to hear."

"I'm calling to ask if you can make it to my Christmas party this year," Emily stated coolly.

"Oh, I didn't get an invitation in the mail."

"I didn't send you one yet. That's why I'm calling you. I wanted to know before I sent something."

Lorelai hated these kinds of ambushes her mother was known for. She expected an answer right away, and Lorelai didn't have much time to come up with an excuse to say no. She fidgeted behind the reception desk and looked for Michel who would need her ASAP, no questions asked. But he was nowhere to be found.

"Lorelai?" Emily said.

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I just got distracted. What, um, was it you wanted to know?" asked Lorelai, hoping to buy herself a couple more seconds.

"I asked you if you think you can come to our Christmas party" Emily repeated.

"I, uh, I don't know. When is it?"

"December 9th."

"That's more than a month away."

"So?"

"I don't know if I'll have time in a month."

"Can't you write it into your pocket calendar?"

"I don't have it with me at the moment."

Silence.

"Mom?"

"I find it very disappointing that you can't make the commitment to tell me now whether or not you will be able to come to our Christmas party. This will be the last time we're going to see you and Rory this year. We're your family, Lorelai, and it's Christmas."

"Mom, this isn't even the family Christmas party. We've never had a family Christmas party. Or a family Christmas. You have these parties two weeks before Christmas. You invite Dad's business associates and their surgically altered wives, and you expect me and Rory to come and play happy family with you. You wanna know what Rory and I do on Christmas, actual Christmas? We decorate cookies together, we make popcorn and cranberry garlands, we watch movies together. We're not sitting at a table with 15 strangers and drinking champagne from a glass that cost more than all our Christmas presents combined."

Lorelai felt bad immediately, but she had to let it out. She couldn't stay silent when it came to her mother and her accusations. Sometimes she felt as if her mother played insult Mad Libs.

"Fine. When you're not coming I'll have the space to invite Mitsy Delacroix's niece," Emily said with a voice like ice.

"Mom, I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean to say what I said. But you have to understand. When we barely see each other, I feel like an actress at your parties, pretending to belong there," Lorelai explained.

"I understand. But you have to see my point, too. I find it incredibly frustrating to negotiate these things with you at times," said Emily, her voice less tense.

"Believe me, I know what frustrating means. I had to coach Sookie through the entire search of the Frim-Fram Sauce recipe, not to mention 'Shafafa on the side'," Lorelai tried to joke.

For once Emily understood what Lorelai was talking about. And she happened to love the song. She chuckled softly.

"Listen, mom. I'm having a very busy day. One waiter called in sick again, I had to get a replacement for him. We have an election today, and I have a date with Luke tonight. But let me call you in a couple days and tell you if we're there for your party, OK?"

"All right. Have fun on your date tonight, and give my love to Rory."

"I will, bye."

Lorelai stared at the phone for a moment. Since when was it so easy to appease her mother? Had she been drunk? Lorelai didn't have time to wonder, she still needed to tell Mia, Sookie and Michel that she found a replacement for James.

When Jo arrived half an hour before she should have, Lorelai was relieved and showed her around and introduced her to the people she would work with that night. Jo had her curly, ash blonde hair in a low ponytail, which gave her an understated yet classy look that she underlined with the discreet eye make-up and not too bright red lipstick.

"Wow, Jo, look at you," Sookie said when they arrived in the kitchen.

"Thanks. This is the perfect opportunity to try out this look," Jo said with a kind smile.

"Yup, not so much the make-up for the diner," the chef concurred.

"I'm really looking forward to working here tonight."

"But you worked at the diner earlier already!" Lorelai remarked.

"I know. The kids are at my mother's today, and I have all this energy. Probably comes from not having to say "Stop putting chewing gum in your sister's hair" over and over again," explained Jo and was rewarded with giggles from Sookie and Lorelai.

Michel poked his head through the door. "Joanna?"

"Please, call me Jo."

"Fine. Jo, could you please come with me so I can give you your clothes?"

"Certainly. Excuse me," she said to Lorelai and Sookie and went with Michel.

Sookie waited until Jo was gone. "Wow! Can I suggest something?"

"What?"

"Hire her!"

"Hire Jo?"

"Yeah!"

"But she already has a job."

"I know, but I like her better than stupid James!"

"Sookie!"

"What? At least consider it."

"We don't know what happens next in the James situation, so hold your horses!"

"All right..."

Lorelai checked her watch. "I told Luke I'd be there in two hours, but I'll come by the kitchen before I leave, OK?"

"OK."

* * *

Lorelai was getting antsy, while at the same time dreading the evening ahead of her. Sookie had been the perfect cheerleader, but her kind words and chocolate chip cookies couldn't push all of Lorelai's worries aside. She entered the diner and was relieved to see a couple stray customers at the counter and tables.

"Hey," Luke greeted her after looking up from his note pad next to the cash register. He gave her a smile that was a tremendous help to calm her down.

"Hi. Any news on the election yet?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Nothing official. But I assume he's winning. He said he'd make Patty social chair."

"That'll get him a lot of votes for sure."

Luke nodded. "You want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," Lorelai said, and he raised his eyebrow.

"Coffee?" asked Luke, his back already turned and his hand on the coffee pot.

Lorelai was amped up already. "No, thank you."

He turned back around, but stayed silent. He let his eyes wander to the other patrons at the diner, but nobody was seeking eye contact with him, so he assumed they were all fine for the moment. He exhaled through his nose and swallowed. He had no idea what to do now. Lorelai noticed how he seemed to want to say something but stopped.

"Can I make you a cup of tea?" he asked, but Lorelai only made a face. "Please, Lorelai. Let me make you something. I need to busy myself."

The pleading look he gave her had her almost in tears. "How about a soda?"

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"And maybe a plate of fries?" she added.

"Coming up," Luke confirmed and went into the kitchen.

On Luke's request Lorelai moved to a table after the other customers were gone. She had helped him as much as he had allowed her with the closing down for the night part. Now they were sitting there in silence while Lorelai finished off her fries. It was the moment she was both dreading and yearning for all day.

"So, um, how do you wanna do this?" she asked him. He was nursing his cup of tea.

"How do you wanna do this?"

"I thought maybe we could say what points we wanted to discuss first, and then we tackle them."

"Sounds reasonable."

"What are your points of discussion?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes from his trying to detect each micro expression on his face.

"Well, I have a big point, but I don't wanna start with it."

"That's OK, we can just list the points first."

"Could you please start then?" he begged.

"All right. Furniture."

"Sex."

"Rory."

"Finances."

"Before we discuss any of this, I have to ask you a question: Do you even wanna move in together? What are you leaning towards?" she asked warily.

He exhaled. Her heartrate doubled. "I'm leaning towards yes. But I have my concerns."

"Let's hear 'em," replied Lorelai with relief.

"Well, for starters, would Rory really be OK with this? I wouldn't want her to think I'm a house guest who has overstayed his welcome."

"I talked to her before I asked you and made sure she was OK with it. And she was. Rory likes you."

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. "What about the..." he swallowed, "the time she interrupted us?"

Lorelai's hand reached out to his. "I talked to her about that as well. She was actually less curious than I would have thought. Of course I used the chance for an early sex ed. You wanna go in a special order?"

"No."

"I'll start. If you moved in, we'd have to get some new furniture. Our couch is new, but not much else is. The kitchen table is old, as are the chairs."

"I have chairs. And a table. They're not new, but new-ish."

"OK, that sounds good. If you moved in, I'd definitely want you to contribute something that reflects your taste. I don't want you to not feel at home because nothing belongs to you. Moving in means really moving in. Bring your stuff, and make it your home, too."

He smiled at her enthusiasm and her vivacious manner of speaking. Everything she said was underlined with a hand gesture or a kind facial expression. Lorelai really wanted this, and she let Luke know exactly that. He looked at her, loving her more than ever in that moment. He tuned out for a moment, and he couldn't help it. Her eyes sparkled as she went on about how he could do whatever he wanted to the house she had bought. She took his hand again and brought him back to the conversation.

"... and Lord knows I won't be using that kitchen, so if you wanted to repaint it, be my guest. What?" she asked, suddenly nervous because of the look he gave her.

"Nothing. I just have to say one thing." Pause. He swallowed. "No one has ever been this nice to me. Maybe that's why I'm hesitant. I don't know if I deserve any of it. I'm not always the kindest person, as you well know from our first encounter. I wish I could have your optimism at times, and I sure wish I'd have some of your kindness."

"Luke... You are nothing but kind to Rory and me. Do you think I would have wasted a thought of us moving in together if I didn't think you're amazing? Part of me thought I'd end up as a spinster because no man ever looked my way because I have a child."

"I find that hard to believe..." he muttered under his breath.

"Well, there were the ones who tried to use Rory to get to me, her dad included. But you were so different. And I want you. All of you. Don't say 'dirty'. I mean it. I want to be with you all day every day. I told you about the Red Vines. All or nothing."

"I want you, too" he smiled. She returned the smile. She still held his hand in hers.

Abruptly, she started to sing "Let's talk about sex, baby!"

"Geez..."

"What, you said you wanted to talk about sex."

"Yeah, but not as loudly."

"Oh, you wanna whisper? A real whisper, or a stage whisper? Because I can do both. And if it's the latter, what kind of accent should I use? I've been working on my Irish accent lately."

He loudly exhaled. "Lorelai..."

"OK, fine. Stopping. Stopped."

"What can we do to never, _ever_ , have Rory walking in on us?"

"I already told you. We can lock the door. I promise to keep the volume down if you can promise to not do anything that could prompt me to be loud."

"I will make no such promise," he stated with a satisfied grin.

"Fine, as always, the woman has to make _all_ the sacrifices," she remarked dramatically. "And we could get Rory earplugs. Or we could simply wait a little longer and make sure she really is asleep. Does any of this sound good?"

"Yes. And we'll get a new lock."

There was a bit of a silence for a moment. Mentally, Lorelai was going through the list of topics, concluding there was only one left: Finances. "Fine, let's move on to the money, shall we?"

"Not so fast. We talked about furniture and sex."

"And Rory."

"Yeah, but only in that one regard. I'm not done yet."

"OK. Shoot."

"Well, this is going to sound stupid, but what will my role be?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, aside from cooking her breakfast, what am I exactly? Am I her mom's lover, or her step-dad?"

"I think you'll be both," Lorelai said hesitantly.

"But what would that entail?" Luke dug deeper.

"You need a list or something?" Lorelai tried to joke.

"No! Yes. I don't know," sighed Luke, stood up and started to pace in front of the counter.

"Why are you so nervous about it, Luke?"

"Because she's not my kid, Lorelai. What if she hated me living with you guys and we'd have to break up?" he asked in a crescendo, with a slight hint of desperation in his voice.

Lorelai didn't know what to say in that moment. She couldn't deny that he had a point. It would be a nightmare if Rory really didn't get along with him. But at the same time she knew she had already triple-checked with Rory to see if she really was fine with the new situation. And she knew she had a thoughtful, reasonable kid. Her loyalty would always be with her daughter, and Lorelai also knew that Luke was right and they'd have to break up if there indeed was no way to reconcile possible conflicts. However, it was not a scenario that seemed probable in Lorelai's mind. And she told him so. She explained her very clear gut feeling that it would work out. It calmed Luke somewhat, and he sat back down at the table beside her.

"What now?" he asked her.

"Now," she whispered and leaned in, "You'll kiss me."

He gladly followed her order.

"And we can tell Rory that she can always come to us, or to me if that's more comfortable for her, whenever she has a problem. I know my kid, she will if there ever is cause for it."

"Good."

"Shall we tackle the final point then?"

"Yes."

"Finances."

"OK, here's what I've been thinking about: Your house is bought and paid for by you. And I can't just live there rent-free. Rent, however, seems so weird. I'm not your roommate."

"Correct."

"What would you say if I paid a monthly amount of money, but not as rent. I've been thinking I could pay it to an account that will then be used for repairs. That way I'm contributing. And I know one thing about houses: Repairs are always necessary when you least expect or need them. It's good to be prepared. My parents were surprised more than once by a leaking roof, or a broken radiator. What do you say?"

"I say that it sounds very reasonable. That reminds me: When we talk about finances, we also have to talk about the diner," she stated calmly.

"The diner?" he asked her confusedly.

"You have to let me pay for my meals some time. You can't pretend it doesn't cost anything."

"But..."

"No buts. You wanna contribute to the house, I wanna stop being a freeloader."

"You're not a freeloader."

"Well, I feel like one. You never let me pay. And it has to stop," she insisted.

He exhaled through his nose. "Fine."

Lorelai couldn't help but smile. He tried to not follow suit, but he failed miserably. They exchanged goofy grins, knowing she was right.

"Oh, and one more thing," Lorelai started.

"Yes, Columbo?" he joked.

"Very funny. Speaking of other diner things. As your soon live-in girlfriend, I'd like to suggest you hire a cook. You're working too much. Not living above the diner will help with that, I know that from experience, but a day off once in a while would do you good."

"Do me good, or do you good?" he smiled knowingly.

"It'll do the both of us good. Just imagine you either opening _or_ closing the diner. Not doing both every day. Or having Thursdays off with me. Sleeping in, or not sleeping..." she smiled shyly.

His heart sped up. How could he refuse her? Here she was, laying out her dreams for them as a couple. He never felt more wanted or loved in his entire life. But he had his routine, and he never hated his life. He agreed with her about having more free time. She had already changed so much in him, but it wasn't change he was fighting. In fact, and as a surprise to himself, he welcomed her intrusions to his everyday life. And if he could spend more time with Lorelai instead of just thinking of her, he felt he had to take the opportunity.

"Seems like you've been thinking about it a lot," he half-asked her.

She nodded. "I have. I think about you a lot."

"Me too."

"So?"

"I'll see if I can find someone to help me out in the kitchen."

"Really?" she smiled and her heart skipped a beat in anticipation.

"Yes."

She jumped up from her chair and flung her arms around his neck. She kissed him passionately.

After a few moments she said, "I think this discussion was a success. Don't you think?"

"I do," he nodded and leaned in to kiss her again.

"Whenever my dad's been having a good negotiation, he's celebrated with cigars and cognac. You don't happen to have any of those, do you?"

He got up and took her hand. "I have a better idea."

Wordlessly, he led her upstairs.

"Luke?" Lorelai said as she stopped on the stairs.

Luke turned around and looked at her expectantly.

"It's highly possible I'm going to hire Jo from under your ass," she announced cockily.

"What?"

"We can talk about it later. By the way, it's not a bad ass," she smiled broadly and gave him a gentle push on his butt to make him move on up the stairs.

* * *

The Sunday after their big talk, Lorelai was still asleep, as was Rory, when she was woken up by a very persisting, rather inconvenient noise. When she had come to her senses, she realized it was her doorbell. Sleepily, she ascended the stairs and walked to the front door. Her jaw dropped when she saw her mother in front of her, a basket in her hand.

"Good morning, Lorelai. I was thinking about what you said earlier this week. You're right. We've never had a family Christmas, and I'm going to change that. I brought the ingredients for cookies, and I'd like to bake some with you and Rory."

After Lorelai was still unable to process any of this or react in a proper manner, Emily added, "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, my pretties! This story is coming to an end. Only one or two chapters to go. But worry not! There is still something in my head I can't wait to write afterwards! Leave me a review if you will.**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Cookies, Cats and Christ

**AN:** My pretties, I know, I'm bad. I let you wait so long. Again. What is wrong with me? I'm always so happy when you guys review and fave my fics, and the only way I can repay you is by updating faster. I'm so sorry. I don't want to bore you with the details of why this took so long, but I had originally planned to post this six months ago. On Christmas. The good news is that the next update will happen next week. But this will be the last chapter of this story. And after that I will probably take a break from fanfic. One reason is because I'm writing my thesis and won't be having as much time. The other reason is that I fell a bit out of love with GG. But I think when I will revisit the show some time in the future, I'll come up with new ideas. I certainly want to write about their European adventure.

Thanks so much for all the reviews, faves and follows. And thank you _Junie_ for having been my beta for years and _DSLeo_ for being my heart-sister.

 **Previously** Lorelai asked Luke to move in with her and Rory. Rory was spending half her free time over at Babette and Morey's to pet Cinnamon's kittens and Emily invited Lorelai and Rory to the annual Christmas party. At the end of the previous chapter Emily showed up at Lorelai's doorstep to bake Christmas cookies with them. Feel free to re-read chapter eleven if you forgot what happened in detail.

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Cookies, Cats and Christmas**

She should have known it. Something about the entire scenario hadn't made sense to Lorelai, but she was busy. Busy finding a replacement for James, the notoriously absent waiter, busy thinking about Luke and their big talk that day, and busy coming up with something she would be doing on December 9th, the day her mother had invited her to the annual Christmas party. As Lorelai angrily spooned the coffee grounds into the filter, it all came back to her.

It simply was too easy then. When had her mother ever let her off the hook after confronting or pressuring her? Never, that's when. It was all so suspicious now that Lorelai thought about it again. First she had yelled at her mother for never having had a family Christmas, shortly followed by an apology and suddenly Emily Gilmore was wishing her a good time for her date with Luke that night? It might as well have been a fairy tale by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. After all, in those fairy tales the evil queen always had a plan to destroy the princess with something; just like Emily who showed up at her door at 8AM on a Sunday to bake Christmas cookies.

Lorelai jammed the now filled basket back into place and turned around to look at her mother with a fake smile.

"Coffee will be ready in a minute."

"That's wonderful, Lorelai," Emily beamed. Nothing in this situation felt right.

Both women turned around when they heard a door creak. Rory stood in the frame and rubbed her eyes as if to will her back from the land of dreams.

"Grandma?" she said incredulously.

Emily stood up to greet her grand-daughter. "Good morning, Rory. I came by to bake Christmas cookies with you and your mother."

"Seriously?" the girl asked.

"I sure did."

"You bake?"

"Well, Hilda gave me a recipe and I went to the basement to find some cookie cutters. They're almost a hundred years old. They used to belong to my grandmother."

"Wow," yawned Rory, still undecided whether this was all a dream.

"Why don't you brush your teeth and wash your face, hon?" asked Lorelai, adding, "When you come back I can change out of my pajamas and you can keep your grandma company."

Lorelai didn't trust herself to speak, so she chose to stay silent. It was for the best. Gilmores before coffee didn't make the best conversational partners, plus she still had to check her pulse from time to time to make sure she hadn't passed out.

She took mugs from the cabinet to have them ready when the coffee was done.

"Do you need milk or sugar?" she asked Emily.

"No, thank you. I take mine black," she replied as she took a look around the kitchen.

"So do I," smiled Lorelai shyly.

It was a rare moment of mother-daughter harmony. Which was a clear sign that the bomb was about to be dropped.

"I see you touched up that spot on the kitchen counter," said Emily, referring to a tiny spot Lorelai had forgotten to paint months ago.

"Luke actually did."

"Did he? That's nice of him."

"Well, he is a nice man."

"So I've heard. I'd like to see for myself, you know. When can I meet this Luke?"

"I don't know, Mom."

"Why not?"

"Because. I haven't thought about it all that much."

"This doesn't surprise me one bit," Emily snapped.

"What does that mean, mom?" asked Lorelai annoyed.

"It means that you never use your head when you make decisions. You only use your heart, and it's gotten you in trouble too many times to count."

"Not that this is any of your concern, but I've used my head a lot when it comes to Luke. Rory really likes him, and she doesn't object to him in any way."

Emily was silent.

"In fact, she doesn't even object to him moving in with us," Lorelai added to spite her mother.

"You're moving in with that man and think it's none of my concern? You are my only child, Lorelai. What if he's just after your money?"

"What money?"

"You have bought this house. And you let him move in here?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you have it."

"What do I have, mother?" Lorelai asked, her voice now calmer. "Luke opened a bank account this week to which he'll deposit a monthly amount that will be used for repairs on the house. It was his idea, in fact he insisted on a monthly payment. Why do you always assume the worst of everyone? Why can't you find an ounce of positivity in you? Why do you still hold a grudge for me getting pregnant at 15? That's all it was, Mom."

"It certainly was more than enough!" yelled Emily.

"I had sex before marriage and you treated me like I was _Julie d'Aubigny_!" Lorleai countered.

After a while of silence, Lorelai with a calmer voice said, "Do you know how hard it was to find a man I love who loves me back? Who is OK with me having a child that is not his and who hasn't used Rory to get into my good graces? Do you know how rare it is that I fall in love with someone? Before Luke it hadn't happened in over a decade."

Emily said nothing for a moment, she couldn't look Lorelai in the eye either. "Is it so hard for you to believe that I just want what's best for you?" Emily asked worriedly.

"No, it's not hard to believe. But who decides what's best for me? I'm a grown woman. When do I get to decide what's best for me? Do you really think you raised me to be a thoughtless person? Do you think so little of yourself as a mother?"

"This has nothing to do with my parenting, but a lot with yours," countered Emily.

Lorelai scoffed. "You know, for all those years of hearing you complain about Gran you sure seem to forget how upset she can make you feel by butting into your business."

Lorelai knew she had that card up her sleeve. It was about time she dropped it on the table and saw what happened next. Emily's eyes now bored into her own, but Lorelai didn't break contact.

"I'm done in the bathroom," Rory interrupted the stare-down.

The girl hadn't noticed that all the air had been sucked out of the room moments before.

"Good, I'll be back in ten," Lorelai said and went upstairs for a change of clothes and back downstairs to the only functioning bathroom in the house.

To her own surprise, Lorelai felt none of the anger she had just minutes before. Some weird sense of calm settled over her as the warm water of the shower soothed her skin. She knew that she told Emily the only thing she could to make her back off her personal life. She didn't want to hurt her mother, but she was also very aware of the fact that mentioning Gran came close to bringing on the Kryptonite.

When Lorelai entered the kitchen showered and dressed, she found Emily and Rory already cutting cookies.

"How long have I been gone for?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Hilda's recipe is rather easy," Emily replied.

"Are you having fun, kid?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Yeah," smiled Rory as she was cutting out a star-shaped cookie.

Lorelai grabbed herself a cup of coffee.

"I like the brand you use," Emily said to her daughter, motioning to her own mug.

"Thanks. It's Luke's special blend," she informed her mother with a glint of defiance in her eyes.

"I see," Emily nodded softly.

"He doesn't tell me what's in it. For a good reason probably. He thinks one day I might OD on coffee."

Emily all but chuckled. She helped Rory with transferring the raw cookies onto a cookie sheet.

"Hey mom?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes?"

"What sprinkles did you bring?"

"Check my basket. I brought a broad selection."

* * *

After the kitchen table had been cleared of flour, icing and sprinkles, the three Gilmore girls sat around it munching on their cookies.

"I think the second batch with the extra cinnamon is my favorite," Rory proclaimed.

Lorelai nodded. "Yup, it's a good batch. I prefer the third batch with nutmeg though. Better choice of sprinkles, too. Mom?"

"My favorite is the second one also."

"So we can all agree the first batch lacked spices," Lorelai said.

They all turned around to see what the noise from the entryway was when Luke stood in front of them, bags of food in his arms.

"Luke!" Lorelai said excitedly and jumped up to give him a sugary kiss.

"Hey," he replied before her lips touched his. He nervously glanced around to the woman who he was certain was Lorelai's mother. To his knowledge Lorelai didn't know any other people driving a Jaguar and he had seen it parked in the driveway right behind Lorelai's car.

Lorelai noticed his uneasiness and turned back around to face the room. "Mom, this is Luke Danes. Luke, this is my mother."

Emily stood to shake his hand. "Emily Gilmore, pleased to meet you."

"You too, Mrs. Gilmore."

"So, what brings you here?" Lorelai asked him.

"You and Rory never showed up for breakfast, so I thought you might have slept in. Then morning turned into noon and I figured you might have another Donna Reed marathon. But you never showed up for a late lunch, so I thought I'd make your favorites and come by to check if you guys are all right. Besides, we were supposed to clean out the attic later today."

Rory stood up to take one of the bags from him. She pulled out styrofoam containers and put them on the table. Emily sat back down and watched the interaction closely.

"You brought some stuff for you, too?" Lorelai asked cautiously, knowing all too well that Luke's and her favorite foods couldn't be turned into a Venn diagram.

"Yeah. There's some chicken salad on whole wheat with a side salad in one of the bags."

Luke took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack in the entryway.

"You want something to eat, Mrs. Gilmore?" Luke asked.

"No, thank you. I must get home. I have completely lost track of time. Richard must think I have deserted," Emily said as she stood up from her chair.

"No Mom, you can stay. Let's call dad and inform him we've taken you hostage. I bet we could easily live off the ransom if we moved to the Caribbean."

"Fine," Emily smiled. "But just for lunch. Did you pack an extra burger?" she asked Luke.

"With those two? I couldn't have entered the house if I hadn't."

After an uneventful lunch, Emily announced that she would really have to leave for Hartford. Lorelai walked her to her car.

"Well?" the daughter asked nervously.

"Well what?" Emily asked in return, pretending not to know what Lorelai wanted her to say.

"Luke."

"Oh. He certainly knows the way to a Gilmore girl's heart goes through the stomach. It was a decent burger," Emily said. Only she knew that she was including herself when she spoke of Gilmore girls.

"And what about him?"

"He seems decent as well."

Unsure what to think of her mother's comment, Lorelai's heart raced in her chest. She paid attention to Emily's facial expression, but nothing seemed malicious in any way. Why couldn't her mother just say _'Lorelai, you've chosen a good man for yourself'_? Why was it that the absence of criticism from her mother was the equivalent of a high praise?

Just as Emily was about to get into her car she turned back towards Lorelai. "Thank you for a lovely day, Lorelai."

"You too, Mom."

"I'll see the three of you on December 9th. Make sure he won't be wearing a plaid shirt."

And with that, Emily got into her car and backed out of Lorelai's driveway.

* * *

Later that afternoon while Rory and Lane were downstairs listening to the new _Soundgarden_ album, Luke and Lorelai were going through the attic in order to make room for some of Luke's stuff. Some of the boxes from the potting shed went straight up to the attic, and Lorelai wanted to take the time to go through them and maybe toss or donate some things. And even though she could hardly believe it, there were a lot of things she had already brought up to the attic in the short six months of living there.

"Wow, look at all this stuff!" Luke said.

"I know."

"Were some of these boxes up here when you moved in?"

"Um, no. This is all our stuff."

"Hard to believe."

"You better believe it. And you better help me sort through these or we'll be stuck in here until Rory's graduation."

"Eh, what's eight years?" he shrugged.

"You apparently haven't turned around. I'm talking about her college graduation."

Luke turned around and let out a sigh.

"How did this happen?" he asked her.

"Well, it all started with moving into a house that needed repairs and a lot of stuff just being hauled up here so they'd be out of the way. Some stuff will be taken downstairs when we have the furniture to put it in. This pile over here," she said and motioned to her right, "are things we got for our house-warming party but don't really use. This is seasonal clothing I haven't needed yet. Over there are things I've sewn back at the potting shed. Curtains, pillow cases, quilts. The winters were long and boring my friend. Behind you we have seasonal house decorations. In the far corner are Rory's baby clothes and there we have the sins of my youth."

He smiled and came closer. "And what might those be?"

She met him half way and he grabbed her hips to pull her close to him. "Oh, you know, just some band t-shirts, _The March Violets_ memorabilia, that kinda stuff. Purple eyeshadow and latex leggings."

His eyes widened.

"I need to be drunk to wear those, so don't get your hopes up," she said and swatted him away. "Let's get started."

It took them a while to work out a system, but once they had agreed on not opening older boxes they were quick. Most boxes were just reorganized and soon they had more space in the attic. After over an hour Lorelai could convince Luke to open one of the old boxes for a trip down memory lane. They sat on the floor and Lorelai opened the box that said _Miscellaneous_ in Sharpie.

Lorelai opened the box and right at the top there was her old _"Where's The Beef?"_ sweater.

"Haven't seen those in a couple years," remarked Luke.

"Me either. Wow, that takes me back. It was the year of _Buckaroo Banzai_ and _Beverly Hills Cop_ ," she said with a voice that was half nostalgia, half TV announcer. "I was pregnant with Rory and my hunger for a good burger was unquenchable."

Luke chuckled. "Still is. It was also the year I had to save Kirk from a bunch of kids who wanted to beat him to death because he insisted he had invented the skateboard."

Lorelai put the sweater aside and Rory's old tutu surfaced.

"Yours?" he asked her.

"God no. Rory's."

"I didn't know she took ballet."

"Oh, it was a glorious week. I remember the time she had run away from the dance studio because she inherited my talent. She ran across the street to the hardware store and locked herself into one of the store rooms. It was the last day she wore that tutu. I made it myself actually."

He was quiet at first. "I think I remember my dad telling me about that. That a girl had come in and her mother didn't even buy anything when she picked her up."

"What? What was I supposed to buy? I was too stressed out about not scratching Mia's car because she let me borrow it for the first time that day."

Luke smiled. "Don't worry about it. He complained about people not buying enough all the time. What's under the tutu?"

Lorelai reached into a box and flinched a little when she felt cold metal against her palm. "What the hell is this?"

Curiously she peeked into the box, as did Luke, not sure what to expect. She almost burst out laughing when she produced a flying pig from the box.

"Where did you get that from?" Luke wondered.

"I have no idea! Look, Luke! A flying pig. It looks like a weather vane. But there's no stick in the box."

"Just throw it out."

"Are you insane?" Lorelai asked and clutched the flying pig to her heart. "Throw it out... I'm so keeping that pig! It'll go on a stick in the front yard. No protest accepted."

"Mom!" Rory yelled from downstairs.

"Yeah?"

"Lane has to go home soon and I can't find my GameBoy! She wants to borrow it."

"I'll be down in a sec. Come on," she said to Luke.

They carefully climbed down the pull-out ladder. "The GameBoy's in my bedroom, in the drawer in my nightstand. Could you get it? I need to use the bathroom," Lorelai told Luke.

He did what was asked of him and met Rory half-way down the stairs to give her the GameBoy. He then went back upstairs to check something he had just seen in Lorelai's nightstand. Luke was standing in the door but turned around to see if Lorelai was coming out of the bathroom yet. The coast was clear, so he quickly sat down on the unmade bed and opened the drawer. There, underneath a tube of hand cream and a cavalcade of empty batteries, he saw a newspaper. He wanted to check the date for confirmation, but couldn't quite see the corner of the paper. He pulled the newspaper out from the stuff it was buried under.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Lorelai asked him in a playful way.

"No. Yes. Sorry. I wasn't snooping, but I got the GameBoy and I saw the newspaper. And I couldn't resist. Is this what I think this is?"

She smiled broadly and came into the bedroom to sit on his lap. "Well, that depends. What do you think this is?"

"We both know it's a paper. I just wanted to check the date to see if it's the one I'm thinking," he smiled back. He felt slightly stupid. And it was kind of embarrassing.

"And what date might that be?" she asked him, amused and noticing his reddened cheeks.

"April 7th."

"Huh, why would I keep the newspaper from 8 months ago?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe because it's the newspaper from the day we first met?"

"Only one way to find out," said Lorelai as she took the paper from his hand and unfolded it to reveal the date. "April 7th."

Luke moved a bit so he could reach into his back pocket for his wallet. He produced the ripped out horoscope from one of the compartments and showed it to her. She flipped through the paper to find the horoscope section. When she found it, she wordlessly took the slip of paper from his hand to put it right where she had ripped it out from all those months ago. "Perfect match," she remarked.

He leaned in to kiss her. She carefully put the newspaper behind them on the bed. She knew in that moment that she would keep it forever. She had no idea that he had kept the horoscope. Lorelai herself had held onto that specific issue of the Stars Hollow Gazette because she wanted to remember the day she inherited the money from Grandpa Charles, but that original intent had been complemented by the significance to their relationship. It felt almost outlandish to her that in those months Luke had changed from a very rude diner owner to someone who she without hesitation would refer to as the love of her life. With that transition in mind, she poured her heart and soul into the kiss. The kiss was neither fast nor greedy, but the both of them felt that finding out the other had kept the counterpart of the paper brought them closer together.

"I love you," Luke said almost casually.

She pecked his lips once more before she replied. "I love you, too. You're coming to my parents' Christmas party with us, right?"

"What?" Luke asked an octave too high.

"Oh, that woman you met earlier in my kitchen? That was Emily master manipulator Gilmore."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she came here to break us up, but then she had your burger and now likes you. Which means she can present you to dad's business partners and their wives. But make sure not to wear a flannel. Because that would be embarrassing," explained Lorelai with a mocking tone of voice.

Luke felt like he was just watching the second act of a theater play that was written and directed by someone who wasn't involved with the first act of the same play in any way.

"I don't get this. She wanted to break us up?" he asked, still incredulous of everything Lorelai had just told him.

"I mean, I can't be sure, but she definitely was here to interfere."

"Why?"

"Because she thinks I'm a moron who makes the worst decisions hence needs her mommy to come in and save the day," Lorelai told him as if those things were normal for everyone.

"But wait, what if she wants to break us up later?"

Lorelai smiled. "Luke, she didn't succeed today. What makes you think she'll succeed later? I told her how great you are, then she could see for herself. If she tries anything again, I'll have to do what I've always done."

"Which is?"

"Cut her out of my life again."

"You would do that?"

"Of course. I'm an adult. I can make my own choices. Hell, I do that at work every day. I raised one hell of a kid. I think I'm doing pretty fine!"

Luke now smiled back at her, completely overwhelmed with the information she so casually laid out for him. He had no idea how she did it, but she seemed so unfazed by her mother's interference. But he had to admit that she was right. Lorelai was successful and could be confident with her capabilities. How he would face her mother again after a relatively calm afternoon followed by the bomb Lorelai dropped mere moments before he would have to figure out. Because one thing was certain, he would come to the Christmas party with Lorelai and Rory.

Luke grabbed her hand. "OK, I'll come with you."

"Yay!" Lorelai cheered and kissed him.

She reached behind them again to take the horoscope. Luke watched as she got up from the bed and walked around it to the other nightstand. She opened the drawer she had emptied out two days before and carefully placed the horoscope inside.

"There," she said. "We just moved your first item in."

Luke smiled and waited for her to come back to him. She did and they shared another kiss.

"About those batteries in your drawer..." Luke started.

"Yeah?"

"Are they all empty?"

"I think so. Why?"

He shyly shrugged. "Just wondering."

Lorelai noticed his cheeks tinged with pink. "Aw, Luke. They're from the GameBoy."

"I figured..."

"You know how much I love playing Tetris."

"Yeah. It was just, uh, stupid."

"Why?"

"Because. Because that's not the only toy that would require batteries," he almost croaked. His face was now a deep red.

"No need to worry, hon. Not even in my most severe dry spell did I go through this many batteries. Besides, I'm not in a dry spell right now," she smiled and kissed him sweetly.

He released a sigh.

"Are we OK?" Lorelai asked him.

"We are. Wanna get back in the attic?"

"Sure. Right after the lobotomy."

* * *

The next weeks were spent secretly buying or crafting each other's Christmas presents and mentally preparing for the big Gilmore Christmas party. Part of the gift Lorelai was getting for Rory was the annual video store sale. Older tapes were sold for just a few cents, and Lorelai had liked showing Rory some of the movies from her youth, or even from before. They had done it twice before, and Lorelai found herself getting giddy just thinking about picking the movies this year. She also had to think about Luke and his preferences. Maybe she would get _Diner_ for him. During the last weeks more and more of his stuff had been moved into the house that he had named a crap shack once. Lorelai in a moment of his absence stole a jacket she found in his closet. She had noticed the zipper was broken and she planned on having it mended for him by Christmas Eve.

After the Big Gilmore Christmas Party of 1995 was over and they had all survived it, Lorelai took Rory to the video store.

"I can't wait to look at this year's selection," Rory mentioned as they walked across the town square.

"Me too! Now that you're big enough to know that Santa doesn't exist and all your presents were crafted or bought by your fabulous mother, you might as well pick your own movies."

"I do have impeccable taste."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Do you have a present for Sookie?"

"Yeah," nodded Lorelai. "I got her _Phish_ tickets."

"Don't tell Lane. She'll never want to be in the same room as Sookie ever again."

"To each their own," commented Lorelai.

"I can't believe it's only one week till Christmas."

"I know! The town looks wonderful this time of year."

They entered the video store.

"Hi Kirk," greeted Rory.

"Afternoon, ladies. Over there," he motioned, "we have this year's sale items. As you can see, we have a broad selection. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anything. My name is Kirk."

"We know, Kirk," said Lorelai confusedly.

"What's with him?" whispered Rory.

"New meds."

"Again?"

"He's as much a mystery to us as he is to medical professionals," explained Lorelai.

* * *

On Christmas Eve Luke closed the diner after lunch to spend the evening with Lorelai and Rory. He actually liked having his old place above the diner, if only it was to hide the Christmas presents from them. Who knows what they would have found with all the snooping that was going on. And one present he couldn't have hidden from Lorelai in the house. It was simply too big. He left it on the bed of his truck, under the tarp to keep it a surprise for as long as he could.

With full stomachs and an alarming amount of sugar in them, they went to bed that night. Early in the morning he woke up Lorelai from her sugar coma.

"Come on, sleeping beauty. We need to get started on breakfast and the presents," he said and gently kissed her cheek.

She grunted in response, but got up eventually. As Luke prepared something to eat, she snuck out of the house to get Rory's present. When she came back, he had set the table already.

"She still asleep?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup."

"I'll get her."

A couple minutes later, both Gilmore girls appeared in the kitchen.

"Morning Luke. Merry Christmas," yawned the girl.

"You too, Rory. Ready for your presents?"

"You bet."

Lorelai led the way into the living room. As she moved to the side, Rory could see what Lorelai had gotten ten minutes earlier. A tiny kitten was sitting on the coffee table, looking only slightly more awake than Rory did.

"Mom?"

"Merry Christmas, sweets."

"For real?"

"Yes."

"We can keep him?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God!" squealed the girl and hugged her mom tightly. She then hugged Luke.

"Thank you so much!"

Rory then went to the kitten she had grown to love so much over the last two and a half months. He immediately started purring in the girl's arms.

"He likes it," noticed Lorelai.

"He purrs a lot," said Rory.

"He looks cute."

"We need a name for him. Any ideas?" asked Rory.

Luke thought for a moment. "Tommy?"

"Veto," said Lorelai.

"I'm out," he replied.

"Mom?"

"I don't know. With the cowlick right on his forehead he has this wisp of hair curling like Elvis'."

"You wanna name him Elvis?" asked Rory.

"Sure, he looks like Elvis."

"I like it," nodded the girl. "Hey Elvis!"

The kitten let out a tiny meow, followed by a purr.

"Do we have food for him?" Rory wanted to know.

"Yeah," said Lorelai and went out to the porch to get a litter box she had left outside. It was filled with cans of cat food, a bag of cat litter and some toys.

When the cat was settled, the three had pancakes for breakfast, and to Lorelai's surprise Luke ate more than she did. She was just too nervous, which was a rare occasion. As the girls cleared the table, Luke went outside to get Lorelai's gift. He came back inside with his grandmother's mechanical sewing machine and left Lorelai speechless. He had found it in an old store room during the process of moving in with Lorelai. In return, she gave him his mended green jacket that he hadn't noticed had gone missing. Then it was time for Rory's gift for her mother. The girl went into her room to get it. She came back with an item that was roughly one foot tall and maybe nine inches wide. Impatiently Lorelai ripped off the wrapping paper. What appeared she couldn't believe. It was the painting of Madame Pompadour from her grandparents' entryway. She hadn't thought of it since her grandfather's will was read months ago.

"How?" she asked full of wonder.

"I had a little help," said Rory shyly.

"Luke?" Lorelai said.

"At the Christmas party I talked to you mother, who then talked to your father. He talked to your grandmother, and there you have it."

"You guys, I love it! Thank you so much," said Lorelai and gathered everyone in a group hug.

"Just so you know," said Rory. "Gran now has an open spot on the wall in her foyer, and grandpa said she was considering having your portrait replace Madame Pompadour's."

"Seems like an appropriate exchange," Lorelai deadpanned.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading and for heart-sisters and for flying pig weather vanes. Leave me a review if you will. Next week I'll post an epilog._


	13. Epilogue: Independence

**AN:** I'm keeping my promise of a quick update. I hope to make up for the long gaps between chapters. This was never meant to take two years to finish. I had an immensely good time writing this story that also challenged me at times. Writing Rory is never easy for me, because in my perception of the show she's always second place, if not third or fourth. If anyone wonders if I'll continue with this story, I'm afraid to disappoint you. The most interesting thing to me is how to get the two Ls together. What comes after is left to our imagination on the show, and I wanna keep true to that.

I want to thank everyone who so faithfully read, reviewed, followed and faved this story. Thanks so much to _Nancy_ who I can never thank with a PM. You're a steady reviewer to my stories and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to leave me some nice words. A sisterly smooch on the cheek goes to _DSLeo_ for her continued support and specifically for her input to this chapter.

* * *

 **Epilogue: Independence**

The wind was relatively strong and had cooled down the air even more. Lorelai regretted not having brought a light summer jacket. She knew she had one that would have perfectly matched her dress. She rubbed her arms a bit to make her goosebumps go away. Luke noticed from the corner of his eye that she was trying to warm herself up. This was exactly the reason why he hated summer so much. He was only clad in jeans and t-shirt, his trusty flannel was back home. He gladly would have taken it off to give it to her. If she let him. She sometimes fussed when she was insisting it didn't go with her outfit. Personally, he couldn't care less if something matched another piece of clothing. But he got that she wanted to look a certain way when she was feeling like it. Ultimately, he was profiting from her good mood, but tonight was different. He stepped closer to her and put his hands on hers and together they continued to warm her up somewhat.

"You don't happen to have some mulled wine back at the diner?" she asked him.

When no reply came, she turned around to him and saw the deep creases in his forehead.

"I didn't think so," she concluded.

"Do you wanna go home?" he asked and his heart skipped a beat.

"No, we'll wait for the fireworks," insisted Lorelai.

"As you wish."

"Has Rory made you watch the Princess Bride again?"

"Only once."

"In the last week."

"Speak of the devil," Luke remarked as she saw Rory and Lane approach them.

"Hey mom."

"Hey kid. Are you having fun?"

"Tons!" she said and Lane started giggling.

"Listen, we might not see each other again because I think we're going home right after the fireworks. I'm freezing."

"That's OK," the girl shrugged. "I took all my stuff to Lane's already."

"Good. Are you staying with us for the fireworks?"

"Sure," nodded her daughter.

The foursome watched with excitement when they heard the sharp whistling sound that announced the first rocket. Halfway through the fireworks Lorelai couldn't stand the chilly wind any longer. She and Luke left. After having dropped off Rory and Lane at Mrs. Kim's house, the couple turned into Plum Street to make their way home. She heard Luke exhale a couple times.

"Are you cold, too?" Lorelai asked him.

"Hm? Yeah. Who knew it'd be so cold in July?"

"Apparently we're a pair of dumb dumbs who wouldn't check the weather report, so I guess it's our fault."

As they walked by Babette and Morey's house, Lorelai noticed her mailbox. _That's weird_ , she thought. She hadn't noticed the flag being up when they left hours earlier.

"I'm just gonna check the mailbox. Not that someone wants to prank us with fireworks or something," Lorelai announced, to which Luke nodded.

She walked towards the mailbox as Luke passed her right side to go to the house. She saw how he fumbled the keys out of his pocket before he reached the porch steps. She smiled at the image. He was the one who insisted on locking up every time they left the house, so it was only fair he was responsible for the keys. At first she didn't see anything in the box, but she bent forward to get a better look. It was too dark, and she wanted to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Now she could see something, so she reached into the mailbox with her hand.

Lorelai froze when her palm came in contact with the velvety surface, but she managed to get the small box out of the mailbox. Her heart started racing. She looked to the house, but he wasn't there. She tried to clear her throat to call for him, but all that came out was a croak. Suddenly, she felt his hand on her shoulder before it descended on her arm and when his hand reached hers and she had fully turned around, she saw him kneeling before her. Still unable to get a word out, she looked at him and then to the small box she still held in her right hand.

"Lorelai," he started and she felt like she was one millimeter from crying her eyeballs out. That was all it took. Just him saying her name.

"Yes?" she said in reflex and wondered if her voice had always sounded like that.

He carefully took the box from her hand and slowly opened it as he uttered his words.

"I love you so much, and I can't imagine celebrating independence better than giving mine up for you. Will you marry me?" he asked, his heart short of jumping out of his ribcage.

She looked at him and at the beautiful ring he held up to her. She had only known him for a little over a year, and yet she couldn't imagine a life without him.

She sank to her knees, too, and hugged him tightly. "Of course I will," she whispered, her voice still not strong enough. Forgotten were the chilly wind and the grass stains on her dress that she'd indubitably get. When they were both ready to let go of each other, momentarily only, he took the ring from its box and put it on her finger.

Kisses and hugs were exchanged, and then, with the grand finale of the fireworks, they went inside.

"Elvis, daddy will make an honest woman out of me," Lorelai litled.

Elvis looked up from his spot under the stairs where he was hiding from the fireworks.

"I can't believe the cat is the first one you're telling. Also, don't call me daddy," he shook his head.

"Regretting it already?" she smiled.

"Not as much as you will."

"Come on, that's not gonna happen," she said as she went to the fridge to get a bottle of champagne.

He eyed her. "You asked for mulled wine not half an hour ago."

"You wanna toast our engagement with mulled wine? Who would've thunk you're that progressive?"

"Point taken."

She kissed him then. "This," she motioned between them, "is going to be good."

" _Going_ to be?"

"Yup. And by _this_ I mean the all-night session of lovemaking ahead of us," she gave him a playful smile.

"We need more sustenance for that than champagne."

"Dirty!" she laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't get why that would qualify for a dirty in any way."

"Then think again my friend," she winked and poured them two glasses of champagne.

They toasted their engagement and shared a deep kiss.

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Lorelai. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"What did I say?" he asked her.

"Did you just suggest a midnight snack? Did Lucas 'health nut' Danes a few moments ago insinuate that he would have to eat something _after_ dinner in order to have the strength for an all-nighter?" Lorelai challenged him with that wicked smile of hers.

"You're clearly making too big a deal out of this," he tried to downplay it.

"Nah-uh. You said you needed more sustenance. Will I finally get my wish of a midnight buffet?"

"No."

"Midnight sliders, an entire tray just for me?"

"No."

"Midnight quesadilla?"

No answer.

"Midnight mac 'n cheese?"

"Lorelai, I just asked you to marry me. This implies that I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Hopefully, a very long life. And I need you by my side. My main goal is to keep you healthy so you can be with me forever."

She immediately realized his tonal shift and she loved him for every word he had just said. She blinked, once, twice.

"OK, here's my final offer: Midnight orgasm?" Lorelai asked in a playful way.

He smiled at her then. "That I can do."

* * *

 _I've always wanted to do this. So here it goes:_

 **PurryCat WILL RETURN**


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